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Washington and the West 





















































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“WASHINGTON’S MILL” 

On Washington’s Run, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, built 1774-75. 



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Washington and the West 

Being George W ashington’s Diary of September, 1784. 
Kept during his journey into the Ohio Basin in the 
interest of a commercial union between the Great 
Lakes and the Potomac River * « $ * * $ $ * $ $ 


And a commentary upon the same by 

Archer Butler Hulbert 

Author of Historic Highways of America , etc. 


With Maps 

a^u»3 



New York 

The Century Co. 
I 9°5 














Copyright, 1905, by 

The Century Co. 


Published October, iqo$ 




» f < 


ft 

• t 
4 • • 


THE DE VINNE PRESS 



TO 

REUBEN GOLD THWAITES, LL.D. 

THIS VOLUME IS GRATEFULLY DEDICATED. 







CONTENTS 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION. i 

DIARY OF SEPTEMBER, 1784.25 

WASHINGTON AND THE AWAKENING OF THE 

WEST.107 


INDEX 


201 

















LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


‘* Washington’s Mill”. Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

Map of Washington’s Western Tour, September, 1784 ... 32 

Map of Washington County at the time of Washington’s Tour . 48 

Braddock’s Road.132 

Plat of Washington’s Farm in Great Meadows, near Farming- 

ton, Pennsylvania.137 


Washington’s Map of the Country between the Potomac and 

Youghiogheny Rivers [1784].184 






























\ 



Washington and the West 


















Washington and the West 


INTRODUCTION 

T HE Washington who was “first in war” is 
far better known than the Washington who 
was “ first in peace ”; and yet the late Herbert B. 
Adams said of the latter man — and the tribute 
must stand as one of the most singular ever made 
by scholar of statesman — “It would seem as 
though all lines of our public policy lead back to 
Washington as all roads lead to Rome.” 

The present volume, containing Washington’s 
diary of September, 1784, presents Washington’s 
attitude toward one of the great national policies 
of the early Republic: expansion and internal im¬ 
provements. As a prophet of the former and a 
promoter of the latter, Washington had a pro¬ 
found influence upon our early economic history; 
and the story of his attempt to inspire his people to 
grow strong after he had marvelously inspired them 
to become free, is not unworthy of special record. 

As no one knew better than Washington the 
extremities to which the revolting colonies were 
led during the war for freedom, so no one knew 
better than he the pitiful condition of the country 
3 


INTRODUCTION 


in those critical afterhours when America was lit¬ 
tle else than free. One will look in vain for more 
discouraging words than some to be found now 
in Washington’s correspondence: “ We shall wan¬ 
ton and run riot,” he wrote Governor Harrison of 
Virginia, “until we have brought our reputation 
to the brink of ruin”; he described the “half- 
starved, limping government that appears to be 
always moving upon crutches, and tottering at 
every step ” as “ descending into the vale of con¬ 
fusion and darkness.” All this within two years 
of the close of the war. What, it may well be 
asked, was Washington doing in these years to 
help the country concerning which he uttered such 
dismal opinions ? 

It is of signal interest that he struck at the root 
of the immeasurably difficult and important prob¬ 
lem. His answer was, Expansion. Washington 
was our first expansionist, not for expansion’s 
sake, truly, but for country’s sake and duty’s. In 
so far as the Washington who was “first in 
peace ” has been pictured as a complacent old gen¬ 
tleman, loaded with honors, taking life peacefully 
in slippers and arm-chair before a Mount Vernon 
fireplace, the real man is most thoroughly mis¬ 
conceived. Take, rather, the picture, dimly out¬ 
lined in the following diary, of Washington camp¬ 
ing in the rain with no cover but his cloak amid 
the Alleghany Mountains three hundred miles 
4 


INTRODUCTION 


from home, and we begin to have a conception of 
the earnestness of the real Washington. For 
while he did not refuse to face squarely the dark 
side of the problem, he also looked on the bright; 
and, looking, he uttered a clear note of enthusi¬ 
asm that opened the eyes of a prostrate people. 
The leader of small ragged armies now became 
the leader of a whole nation which at one and the 
same time should expand and unify. A living na¬ 
tion must be a growing nation, and Washington 
looked to the Alleghanies and the rich empire on 
the Mississippi and Great Lakes for hope and 
light; if others thought the vast territory beyond 
the mountains a hopeless encumbrance, he did 
not; if others thought to see England, France and 
Spain seizing upon commercial and political 
spheres of influence there, he did not; if others 
thought to see the East at last abandon the West 
because it was a burden too heavy to carry, Wash¬ 
ington did not. On the contrary, Washington saw 
in the awakening of the West a hope for the East 
—in a day when hopes and fears were running a 
hard race in human hearts for the mastery. 

Men pointed out that France and England had 
not held the trans-Alleghany empire, even though 
making vast expenditures in men and treasure; 
how could the poor Republic, “ one nation to-day, 
thirteen to-morrow,” do what France and Eng¬ 
land had failed to do ? It was a fair question, but 
5 


INTRODUCTION 


Washington met it with an answer prophetically 
strong: France and England had held the West 
by a military rule that was wholly artificial and 
endlessly expensive; Washington stood for a new 
system, for a possession of the West that meant a 
blessing to possessor and possessed, by means of 
a commercial union. It was a pioneer idea in¬ 
stinct with genius, and Washington’s advocacy of 
it marked a new epoch in American history, and 
marks him as the first commercial American — 
the first man typical of the America that was to 
be. England had restrained Western immigra¬ 
tion in order to monopolize more effectively the 
fur trade; this commerce was a pitifully one-sided 
affair that excluded all the other industries. How 
vastly opposed to this was the policy that threw 
the West open to the flood-tides of pioneers, and 
then welded it to the East by such bands of com¬ 
merce as Washington now began to forge in 
1784! 

“ There are no Alleghanies in my politics,” said 
Daniel Webster in the Senate in 1836; that was 
Washington’s political theory in 1784. “ Inter¬ 

course between the mighty interior West and the 
sea-coast,” said Edward Everett in Faneuil Hall 
in 1835, “ is the great principle of our commercial 
prosperity”; that was Washington’s commercial 
theory in 1784. Far-seeing as were Everett and 
Webster and Clinton and the Morrises, Wash- 
6 


INTRODUCTION 


ington excelled them all in that he antedated them 
in realizing the destinies of America ran east and 
west. 

Washington’s earnestness is well exemplified 
by the timeliness of his activity; even before the 
close of the Revolution he began this active cam¬ 
paign for commercial expansion. Leaving his 
camp at Newburgh, New York, he made a three 
weeks’ tour up the Mohawk River into central 
New York, in order to view that great artery of 
communication to the West and the Lakes. Re¬ 
turning, he wrote from Princeton, October 12, 
1783, to Chevalier de Chastellux concerning his 
impressions, as follows: “ I could not help taking 
a more extensive view of the vast inland naviga¬ 
tion of these United States and could not but be 
struck by the immense extent and importance of 
it, and of the goodness of that Providence which 
has dealt its favors to us with so profuse a hand. 
Would to God we may have wisdom enough to 
improve them. I shall not rest contented till I 
have explored the Western country, and traversed 
those lines, or great part of them, which have 
given bounds to a new empire.” The following 
diary is the record of this tour of exploration. 

Now, it must not be supposed that Washington 
advanced the idea of expansion either as a mere 
political coup, or as a fancy of the moment; he 
knew the West, and, in its general outline, this 
7 


INTRODUCTION 

idea had been present with him for many years. 
There are few untold stories of more human in¬ 
terest than this one of Washington's acquaintance 
with the Middle West, his travels there, his land 
speculations, his hopes and dreams and fears of 
the magnificent forest-kingdom that in his day 
stretched from the Alleghanies to the Mississippi. 
He knew that “ empire," the bounds of which he 
wrote de Chastellux he wished to traverse; and it 
is only because his services as commander of the 
American army and as first President of the Re¬ 
public were so notable that we have found it diffi¬ 
cult to remember he was one of the earliest of dar¬ 
ing explorers and shrewd, clear-headed investors 
to set foot on the soil of the old West. For a be¬ 
ginning of this we look back to his early boyhood 
when a mother's hand turned the lad from the sea 
into the moaning forests on the upper Potomac. 
Had the parent's wish not been obeyed the West 
would have lost a mighty champion; as it was, 
Washington, in the last two years of the first half 
of his century, made acquaintance with the for¬ 
ests, the mountains and the rivers on the flanks 
and to the rear of the Colonies. The tremendous 
silences thrilled the young heart; the vastness of 
the wildernesses made him sober and very 
thoughtful. He came in touch with the great 
problem of that forest-empire at an impression¬ 
able age and it became a life-problem with him. 

8 


INTRODUCTION 

He studied the common trivialities of the border¬ 
land; the perils and hardships of frontier life; the 
perplexing disputes as to tomahawk and squatter 
claims; the hundred woodland arts that are now 
more than lost; the Indian claims and customs, 
and their conceptions of right and wrong; the 
commercial need, and ways and means: all these, 
and more, were the questions this tall boy was 
providentially made to face as the first steps in 
a life of unparalleled activity and sacrifice. In 
1748, as noted, he was surveying on the upper 
Potomac; in 1753 he was sent to the French forts 
near Lake Erie as envoy extraordinary from the 
Governor of Virginia; in 1754 he commanded the 
Virginia Regiment which formally opened the 
Old French War at Fort Necessity; in 1755 he 
marched with Bulldog Braddock to the death-trap 
beside the Monongahela, and in 1758 he led the 
Virginia vanguard of General John Forbes s 
army to the capture of Fort Duquesne. Here 
Washington learned his few lessons in war—and 
it is prophetic that he should have learned them 
west of the Alleghanies. For, no sooner was the 
French War over, than the young Colonel, now 
settled at Mount Vernon, turned instantly to the 
West as a richly promising field for commercial 
exploitation. In 1763, the very year of the treaty 
with France, Washington organized the Missis¬ 
sippi Company, and the articles of association in 
9 


INTRODUCTION 


his own handwriting, signed by Francis Light- 
foot Lee, John Augustine Washington, Richard 
Henry Lee, Thomas Bullitt, founder of Louis¬ 
ville, and others, including himself, repose in the 
Congressional Library. An agent was sent to 
London to secure a grant of Western land, but met 
with no success, owing to the governmental policy 
which created the proclamation of 1763 prohibit¬ 
ing Western settlements. With a keen apprecia¬ 
tion of the inward meaning of things, Washing¬ 
ton saw that no proclamation could hold back the 
flood of immigration; and as early as 1767 he was 
writing his old comrade of surveying tours and 
military campaigns, William Crawford, to pick 
him out some good tracts of land near Pittsburgh. 
As to the proclamation, he wrote confidentially: 
“I can never look upon that ... in any other 
light (but I say this between ourselves) than as 
a temporary expedient to quiet the minds of the 
Indians. . . . Any person, therefore, who neg¬ 
lects the present opportunity of hunting out good 
lands, and in some measure marking and distin¬ 
guishing them for his own, in order to keep others 
from settling them, will never regain it.” 

Washington already had, it must be noted, a 
claim to certain tracts of land in the West, for in 
1754 Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia offered 
bounty lands beyond the mountains to all who 
would volunteer in the Fort Necessity Campaign; 
Washington, as ultimate commander of that ex- 
10 


INTRODUCTION 

pedition, became possessed of the lion’s share, and 
he had shrewdly added to his holdings by pur¬ 
chasing other claims held by officers and soldiers 
under him who preferred ready money to a Colo¬ 
nial governor’s promise. Washington bought the 
promises. Thus, at one time and another, the 
proprietor of Mount Vernon invested his money 
heavily in the West, until, at the close of the 
Revolution, we learn from a letter written to 
President John Witherspoon of Princeton Col¬ 
lege, he had “ patents under the signature of Lord 
Dunmore (Governor of Virginia) . . . for about 
30,000 acres, and surveys for about 10,000 more, 
patents for which were suspended by the disputes 
with Great Britain, which soon followed the re¬ 
turn of the warrants to the land office. Ten thou¬ 
sand of the above thirty lie upon the Ohio; the 
rest on the Great Kanawha. . . .” In a “ Sched¬ 
ule of Property” accompanying Washington’s 
will we find he possessed the following properties 
west of Mount Vernon: 

IN VIRGINIA 

Acres Price Total 


Loudoun County, Difficult Run . 

per acre 

300 

$6,666 

Loudoun and Farquier, Ashby’s Bent... 

2,481 $10 

24,810 

Chattin’s Run.. 

885 8 

7,080 

Berkeley, South Fork of Bullskin. 

1,600 


Head of Evan’s M. 

453 


In Wormeley’s Line. 

183 



2,236 20 

44,720 


II 







INTRODUCTION 


Acres Price Total 
per acre 

Frederick, brought from Mercer. 571 $20 $11,420 

Hampshire, on Potomac River above B.. 240 15 3,600 

Ohio River, Round Bottom. 587 

Little Kanawha. 2,341 

Sixteen miles lower down. 2,448 

Opposite Big Bent . 4,395 

9,744 10 97440 


Great Kanawha 

Near the mouth, west. 10,990 

East side, above. 7,276 

Mouth of Cole River. 2,000 

Opposite thereto .2,950 

Burning Spring. 125 


3,075 


PENNSYLVANIA 
Great Meadows. 


200,000 
234 6 1,404 


Mohawk River 


NEW YORK 
.about 1,000 


6 


6,000 


NORTHWEST TERRITORY 


On Little Miami . 839 

Ditto . 977 

Ditto . 1,235 


3,051 5 15,255 


KENTUCKY 


Rough Creek. 3,000 

Ditto, adjoining. 2,000 

5,ooo 

Total.acres 49,083 


2 10,000 

$ 428,395 


Thus we see that Washington’s estimated 
wealth was over half a million, and more than 

12 

























INTRODUCTION 


four hundred thousand lay in Western lands; and 
it is probable that he secured nearly all of this 
prior to 1784. Compared to some alleged private 
holdings, such as claimed by Richard Henderson 
and George Croghan, this was a small quantity; 
but it explains in full Washington’s knowledge of 
the Western problem; it makes it very clear that 
when he wrote de Chastellux, “Would to God we 
may have wisdom enough to improve the oppor¬ 
tunity,” he knew full well the meaning of his ring¬ 
ing words. 

First and foremost, his study of the scene of 
these investments gave Washington a glimpse 
into the future that no man of his day had, in 
which he saw the West filled with a great popula¬ 
tion. Who, indeed, ever uttered a clearer proph¬ 
ecy than Washington when he said that the West 
would become populated faster than any one could 
believe and faster than any other similar empire 
ever had ? Washington being sure as to this car¬ 
dinal fact—upon which many were as doubtful as 
was Webster of the Oregon country half a cen¬ 
tury later—it naturally compelled him to face a 
whole series of propositions concerning national 
prosperity some twenty-five years before their 
time. These propositions relating to the awaken¬ 
ing of the West may be divided into at least four: 
those concerning (1) communications, (2) treat¬ 
ment of the Indian inhabitants, (3) future States 

13 


INTRODUCTION 


to be admitted into the Union and (4) public 
lands. On all these questions Washington, be¬ 
cause of his intimate acquaintance with the West, 
had profound conceptions which shaped the des¬ 
tiny of America. 

His attitude toward the problem of communi¬ 
cations is the subject of the following diary; to all 
intents and purposes, as will be seen, Washington 
may well be called the Father of the Cumberland 
National Road, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, 
and the Baltimore and Ohio Railway. His influ¬ 
ence in the question of Western statehood and the 
public lands was first clearly put by Professor 
Adams as follows: “ ... no one has ever 
shown how the first steps towards the organiza¬ 
tion of our public domain into new states were 
also suggested by George Washington and not 
by Thomas Jefferson, as is commonly supposed. 
The idea of parcelling out the Western country 
‘into free, convenient and independent govern¬ 
ments’ was first proclaimed by Maryland in those 
famous instructions to her delegate, but the first 
definite plan for the formation of new States in 
the West is to be found in a letter written the 
seventh of September, 1783, by General Washing¬ 
ton to James Duane, member of Congress from 
New York. . . . The practical suggestions of 
George Washington with reference to adopting 
an Indian policy and some definite scheme for 
14 


INTRODUCTION 


organizing the Western territory, were adopted 
almost word for word in a series of resolutions by 
Congress, which are to be found in the Secret 
Journals of that body, under the date of October 
15, 1783. In referring to the regular Journal of 
Congress for the above date, we find the report of 
a committee ... to which . . . sundry let¬ 
ters and papers concerning Indian affairs had 
been referred. The committee acknowledge in 
their report that they have conferred with the 
commander-in-chief . When now we recall the 
fact that the chairman of the above committee 
was James Duane, the very man to whom Wash¬ 
ington addressed his letter of the seventh of Sep¬ 
tember, the whole matter clears up and George 
Washington stands revealed as the moving spirit 
in the first active measures for the organization of 
the Public Lands. . . . Washington’s plans were 
what the Germans would call f bahnbrechend/ 
His suggestions were the pioneer thoughts of 
genius; they opened up the ways and pointed out 
the means.” * 

Those last words may be taken more literally 
than the writer intended. It was well for men to 
spin theories concerning the West, its red-skinned 
inhabitants and the vast acreage it contained; but 

* “ Maryland’s Influence upon Land Cessions to the United 
States,” Studies in Historical and Political Science , Third Series 
(January, 1885), 41, seq. 

15 


INTRODUCTION 


the Alleghanies were not to be argued away. 
There they lay, rough and lonely ridges of laurel 
and white oak and pine, an almost impassable dis¬ 
trict averaging nearly a hundred miles in width, 
and, in length, stretching from near the Niagara 
frontier to the Great Smoky and Cumberland 
ranges in the South. In Europe such a moun¬ 
tainous barrier would have been considered a 
boundary of empire raised by the hand of Provi¬ 
dence ; few if any statesmen abroad ever thought 
to see a single State beyond that dark boundary¬ 
line join the united States to the eastward of it. 
And so, while it were well to plan the westward 
States, devise methods for reconciling the Indian 
to the advent of civilization, and propose ways of 
handling a vast public domain, the immediately 
vital question was first to bind the West and East 
by highways of communication; this would make 
immigration possible and would then weld the old 
settlements with the new by that strongest social 
bond, commerce. If St. Louis and New Orleans 
on the west, or Detroit and Montreal on the 
north, were to become the avenues of trade and 
prosperity (while held by foreign powers), there 
was great reason to think the Alleghanies would 
become the Alps of America, sheltering among 
their ranges a number of small kingdoms, like 
those Bishop Berkeley sang, which should block 
the over-reaching ambitions of the greater States 
16 


INTRODUCTION 


that might surround them. If, on the other hand, 
Baltimore, Philadelphia, Alexandria and New 
York could secure the growing trade of the trans- 
Alleghany country, a real union, as logical as it 
was secure, would be established. 

Thus it was to the “ doors,” one may say, in the 
Alleghanies that Washington was looking with 
anxious eyes at the close of the Revolution. We 
have seen that he had visited one historic passage¬ 
way westward, the Mohawk route, and it is in¬ 
teresting to remember that he was “the first to 
predict the commercial success of that route . . . 
which was afterwards taken by the Erie Canal 
and New York Central Railroad.” This route, 
which dodged around the northern slopes of the 
Alleghanies, was the easiest of all routes from the 
seaboard to the Middle West. South of it the 
mountains lay like a castle wall, as James Lane 
Allen has so effectively pictured them. “The 
thin, half-starved, weary line of pioneer civiliz¬ 
ers,” he writes, “ had to . . . climb this obstruct¬ 
ing mountain wall, as a line of traveling ants 
might climb the wall of a castle. . . . The feeblest 
of the ants could not climb the wall; the idlest of 
them would not. Observe, too, that once on the 
other side, it was as hard to get back as it had 
been to get over.” * The “ doors ” of this wall 
were few and far between; but the buffalo and In- 

* The Blue Grass Region of Kentucky, 252. 

2 17 


INTRODUCTION 


dian had found them out, one at the head of the 
Juniata tributary of the Susquehanna River in 
Pennsylvania (now the route of the Pennsyl¬ 
vania Railway), one at the head of the Potomac 
(the Baltimore and Ohio Railway route in Mary¬ 
land), one at the head of James River in Virginia 
(the route of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway) 
and, lastly, one near the heads of the Tennessee — 
the “ high-swung gateway ” through Cumberland 
Gap to Kentucky. These routes, ascending the 
Susquehanna, Potomac and James rivers on the 
eastern side of the castle wall, vaulted the sum¬ 
mit, or ancient portage, and descended the Cone- 
maugh, Youghiogheny and Great Kanawha riv¬ 
ers on the western side. 

In the contemplation of a commercial union of 
the East and West Washington's eyes ran quickly 
to these gleaming waterways; the commerce of 
the Colonies had been largely carried in the bot¬ 
toms of the sloops and brigs of the coastwise 
trade which ascended the seaboard rivers as far 
as these were navigable. It can be said with a 
large degree of truth that there was little com¬ 
merce outside the zone reached by these vessels; 
the era of road building had not dawned, and the 
era of canals was half a century away. It seemed 
natural, therefore, that, to increase the commerce 
of the country, it was necessary only to increase 
the length of the navigation of the rivers; and, 
18 


INTRODUCTION 


carrying out this reasoning, in order to establish 
a commercial union with the West, it was only 
necessary to improve the navigation of the rivers 
which led up to these gateways in the mountain- 
barriers, by means of locks, wing-dams, sluices, 
etc. The summit portage could in some instances 
be conquered by a canal; where this was not feasi¬ 
ble a portage-road could be built. True, notes of 
alarm had been sounded as to the danger of press¬ 
ing too far the theory of the canalization of 
rivers; Franklin in 1772 wrote from England 
cautioning American promoters on this point;* 
and had not a stately Spanish Council warned the 
engineering world, with regard to unnavigable 
rivers, that “ ... if it had pleased God that 
these rivers should have been navigable, he would 
not have wanted human assistance to have made 
them such. . . ” ? f 

But Washington’s idea was right, Franklin and 
the Spanish Council to the contrary notwithstand¬ 
ing ; though it was not until our day that science 
permitted a great canal (the new Erie iooo-Ton 
Barge Canal) to be planned, in a large degree, by 
the canalization of rivers. As early as the date 
of Washington’s first Western journey in 1753 he 
paid attention to the navigation of the upper Po¬ 
tomac and left a manuscript of notes on the sub- 

*A. B. Hulbert, Historic Highways of America, XIII, 25. 
t Id., XIII, 18. 


19 


INTRODUCTION 


ject.* In 1759, when a member of the Virginia 
House of Burgesses, he brought privately to the 
members of the Assembly a plan for improving 
the Potomac and connecting it with the Ohio. In 
1770 he was corresponding with Thomas John¬ 
son, later Governor of Maryland, concerning the 
improvement of the Potomac, “as a means of 
becoming the Channel of conveyance of the exten¬ 
sive and valuable trade of a rising empire.” 2 
Finally, in 1774, a bill was brought before the As¬ 
semblies of both Virginia and Maryland looking 
toward the improvement of the Potomac. Then 
the Revolution was precipitated, and all private 
concerns dropped out of sight in the years of pub¬ 
lic danger. But for this Virginia and Maryland 
would have entered upon a work of internal im¬ 
provement the like of which had not been seen on 
this continent. In all the plans making for this 
end Washington had been the leader, in word and 
in deed; and it is noteworthy that it was his very 
associate in this early internal improvement cam¬ 
paign, Johnson, who, as delegate to Congress, 
nominated Washington Commander-in-chief of 
the Continental Army. 

And now, returning home at the end of the war, 
the old plan reoccurs to Washington with an 

* Stewart, Andrew, “ Report on Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in 
1826,” Reports of Committees of the House of Representatives , 
First Session , Nineteenth Congress, Report No. 228 . 

t Id., 27-29. 


20 


INTRODUCTION 


overwhelming force; if there were ten reasons for 
it before Independence was achieved, there were a 
hundred now. It was with this feeling uppermost 
in his mind that he had made the Mohawk tour 
from Newburgh. Possibly he had heard of the 
vision seen by the brilliant Morris, who, in 1777, 
pointed out to his fellow-officers the possibility of 
joining the Great Lakes by a waterway with the 
Hudson; and as Washington watched the Mo¬ 
hawk he was thinking, no doubt, of his own river, 
the Potomac. In the face of all this it is not 
strange, then, that early in the new year of peace, 
1784, he should have planned a similar tour up 
the Potomac with the intention of making a simi¬ 
lar examination of the possible connections that 
might be made with it and the Ohio and Great 
Lakes beyond. 

By midsummer the plans for the Western trip 
were formulated, and promptly on schedule time, 
September 1, Washington departed from Mount 
Vernon. He now began his diary of September 1 
— October 4, 1784. In that time he traversed, by 
his count, 680 miles, though eleven days saw no 
progress. To correspondents and friends he 
wrote that he was going on a private mission to 
see his lands and overseers; thus he wrote to his 
old friend Dr. Craik, “ I am not going to explore 
the country, nor am I in search of fresh lands ”; 
but, in connection with the former statement, 
21 


INTRODUCTION 


Professor Adams well says: “Washington was 
not quite just toward his own motives, as events 
show.” In fact, he had not been gone three days 
before he wrote in the diary that “ one object ” of 
his journey was “to obtain information of the 
nearest and best communication between the 
Eastern and Western Waters; and to facilitate as 
much as in me lay the Inland Navigation of the 
Potomack.” 

This diary was kept in a little oblong note-book, 
and finely written in ink. It now reposes in the 
manuscript department of the Library of Con¬ 
gress. The following version has been carefully 
compared and corrected with the original. The 
references by number are to the commentary 
which follows the diary and which gives title to 
this volume. In the commentary the numbers 
will be found to run consecutively, which is for¬ 
bidden in the diary because of the repetitions. 

On the margin of each page of the commentary 
will be found the inclusive number of notes con¬ 
tained thereon. 

With the exception of a number of entries con¬ 
cerning a dispute with squatters on his Pennsyl¬ 
vania lands (which led to Washington’s becom¬ 
ing the successful plaintiff in an ejectment suit), 
the diary is a study of the possible course of a 
great transportation route from the Potomac to 
Lake Erie; and when studied in the light of his 
22 


INTRODUCTION 


entire relation to the Western problem even the 
details of the record become of interest. At the 
conclusion Washington sums up the whole prob¬ 
lem of joining the Potomac tide-water with the 
Great Lakes, and emphasizes its commercial and 
political importance. 

Again, this diary gives us a picture of the ex¬ 
periences and vicissitudes of pioneer traveling 
across the Alleghanies that is perhaps unequaled 
by any other record of equal antiquity and relia¬ 
bility and length. 

In several instances points mentioned in the 
diary are not located in the subsequent commen¬ 
tary because a glance at the accompanying maps 
will readily give the location much better than 
words could do. 

To C. W. Butterfield's The Washington-Craw- 
ford Letters and especially to the late Professor 
H. B. Adams's articles on “ Washington's interest 
in Western Lands," etc., in the Johns Hopkins 
University Studies (Third Series), the author is 
indebted, as numerous footnotes will abundantly 
prove; for further aid he owes thanks to James 
Hadden of Uniontown, Pa., Hon. Boyd Crumrine 
of Washington, Pa., Edward H. Sincell of Oak¬ 
land, Md., W. H. McGibbon of Bruceton, W. Va., 
and Alexander C. Mason of Oakland, Md. 

But for his greatest pleasure the author is in¬ 
debted to a score of lowly mountaineers, who will 
23 


INTRODUCTION 


never see or hear of this book, but who looked 
with wondering, delighted eyes upon the wayfar¬ 
ing editor's copy of Washington's diary, and lis¬ 
tened, as though nothing else they had ever heard 
was worth remembering, to passages in it that 
referred to the localities in which they lived and 
which the outer world has forgotten. For, while 
the bright Cheat River is known to anglers and 
lumbermen, it has not, somehow, become the 
mighty channel of commerce that Washington 
pictured it; yet this picture of his is precious be¬ 
cause it shows the enterprising heart of the man 
who first saw the light of a new and better day, 
and because in its essentials it all became wonder¬ 
fully true when at last the West awoke. 

A. B. H. 

Marietta College, 

Marietta, Ohio, 

July 13, 1905- 


24 


Washington's Diary of 
September Mdcc lx . x . x . iv . 






JVashingtorts Diary of 
September Mdcc lxx . xiv . 


\Mount Vernori\ September 178f 

H Aving found it indispensably nec¬ 
essary to visit my Landed property 
West of the Apalacheon Moun¬ 
tains, 2 and more especially that 
part of it which I held in Co-partnership with 
Mr Gilbert Simpson. 3 —Having determined 
upon a tour into that Country,—and having 
made the necessary preparations for it,— I did, 
on the first day of this Month (September) set 
out on my journey 

Having dispatched my equipage about 9 
O’clock A.M : consisting of 3 Servants & 6 
horses, three of which carried my Baggage, I 
set out myself in company with Docter James 
Craik; 4 and after dining at Mr Sampson Tram- 
27 mells 




Washington s Diary [j d 


mells 5 (ab? 2 Miles above the Falls Church) 
we proceeded to Difficulty Bridge, 6 and lodged 
at one Shepherds Tavern 7 25 Miles 


Sep. 2 . 

C. About 5 O’clock we set out from Shep¬ 
herds ; and leaving the Baggage to follow 
slowly on, we arrived about 11 O’clock our¬ 
selves at Leesburgh, 8 where we Dined—The 
Baggage having joined we proceeded to M? 
Israel Thompsons 9 & lodged mak? ab* 36 M. 


3 d 

Having business to transact with my Ten¬ 
ants in Berkeley; & others who were directed 
to meet me at my Brother’s (Col? Charles 
Washington’s ), 10 1 left Doctf Craik and the Bag¬ 
gage to follow slowly, and set out myself about 
Sun Rise for that place—where after Break¬ 
fasting at Keys, ferry 11 I arrived about 11 
O’clock.—distant ab! 17 Miles.— 

Col° Warner Washington, 12 MfWormeley, 
Gen. 1 . Morgan, 13 M r . Trickett and many other 
Gentlemen came here to see me.— & one ob¬ 
ject 14 of my journey being to obtain informa- 
28 tion 



/f th i\ September Mdcc lxxxi ? 


tion of the nearest and best communication 
between the Eastern & Western Waters; & 
to facilitate as much as in me lay the Inland 
Navigation of the Potomack; I conversed a 
good deal with Gen! Morgan on this subject, 
who said, a plan was in contemplation to ex¬ 
tend a Road from Winchester to the Western 
Waters, to avoid if possible an interference 
with any other State. 15 —but I could not dis¬ 
cover that Either himself, or others, were able 
to point it out with precision.— He seemed to 
have no doubt but that the Counties of Fred¬ 
eric, Berkeley & Hampshire would contribute 
freely towards the extension of the Navigation 
of Potomack; as well as towards opening a 
Road from East to West. 

4 th - 

C. Having finished my business with my Ten¬ 
ants (so far at least as partial payments could 
put a close to it)—and provided a Waggon for 
the transportation of my Baggage to the Warm 
springs (or Town of Bath) to give relief to my 
Horses, which from the extreme heat of the 
Weather began to Rub & gaul, I set out after 

29 after 





Washington s Diary \yj th . 


dinner, and reached Capt n Stroads 16 a Substan¬ 
tial farmers betw? Opecken Creek & Martins- 
burg—distant by estimation 14 Miles from my 
Brothers.— 

Finding the Capt n an intelligent Man, and 
one who had been several times in the Western 
Country—tho’ not much on the communica¬ 
tion between the North Branch of Potomack, 
& the Waters of Monongahela—I held much 
conversation with him—the result of which so 
far as it respected the object I had in view, was, 
—that there are two Glades 17 which go under 
the denomination of the Great glades—one, on 
the Waters of Yohiogany, the other on those of 
Cheat River; & distinguished by the name of 
the Sandy Creek Glades.— that the Road to the 
first goes by the head of Pattersons Creek—that 
from the acc*? he has had of it, it is rough;—the 
distance he knows not.—That there is a way 
to the Sandy Creek Glades from the great 
crossing of Yohiogany (or Braddocks Road) & 
a very good one; but how far the Waters of 
Potomack above Fort Cumberland, & the Cheat 
River from its Mouth are Navigable, he pro¬ 
fesses not to know—and equally ignorant is he 
of the distance between them.— 


3 ° 



4 thP \ September Mdcc lxxxtv . 


He says that old Capt n Tho s Snearenger 18 
has informed him, that the Navigable Water of 
the little Kanhawa comes within a small dis¬ 
tance of the Navigable Waters of the Monon- 
gahela,& that a good Road, along a Ridge, may 
be had between the two.—& a young Man who 
we found at his House just (the evening before) 
from Kentucke told us, that he left the Ohio 
River at Wheeling (Col? David Shepperds, 1854 & 
in about 40 Miles came to Red StoneoldForton 
the Monongahela, 50 Miles from its Mouth.— 

Capt? Stroudes rout 19 to the Westward hav¬ 
ing been for the most part by the way of New’ 
River and the Hd’sten [Holston] through (what 
is called) the Wilderness, to Kentucke, — he 
adds that when he went out last fall he passed 
through Staunton, by the Augusta Springs, the 
Sweet springs, &c? to the New River; on which 
he fell about 1 o miles as he was told above the 
Fall in that River, that falls are about 70 Miles 
from the Mouth, that a Vessel could not pass 
them tho’ the perpendicular fall did not exceed 
Six feet.— 

The distance from Staunton to the Springs, 
according to his acdis 45 Miles;—between the 
Springs 28 Miles; and from the Sweet springs 
31 springs 




Washington s Diary [6 tj 


to the New River, 30.— in all, 103 from Staun¬ 
ton to the New River: from this part of the 
New River to the place called Chissels Mines, 
is passable for Canoes & Batteaux with little 
difficulty; & from thence to the Roanoke where 
it is as large as the Opeckon near his house is 
only 12 Miles & a tolerably level country.— 


5 -* 

C. Dispatched my Waggon (with the Baggage) 
at day light; and at 7 O’clock followed it.— 
bated at one Snodgrasses, on Back Creek 20 —and 
dined there; about 5 O clock P.M. we arrived 
at the Springs,—or Town of Bath 21 —after trav¬ 
elling the whole day through a drizling Rain, 30 
Miles 

6 th 

C. Remained at Bath all day. and was showed 
the Model of a Boat constructed by the ingeni¬ 
ous My Rumsey, 22 for ascending rapid currents 
by mechanism; the principles of this were not 
only shown, & fully explained to me, but to my 
very great satisfaction, exhibited in practice in 
private under the injunction of Secresy, untill 
he saw the effect of an application he was about 

3 2 about 




Washington's 

Lands_«^ 


Steubenville 


Gannonsburg 
j [Canuon’shrJ 


Washington 


C('::nellsvj.!le 


Wheeling; 


• r I V vl 

\ Ne\v;Iieav.cii: 

[ C rawf ory ’ 

'/ Umontownj L-jj? lst 
Beasoil Town]// v epl’ac 

S“ Farmington''; 


Wayneshu 


V. 


Y oHagerstown 


sferostb ug 


Morgantow 


Martiusbl 


Fairmon' 


\ ^Harper's'-FetT 
//Ghai'lestowry' - 


I; Ronnie; 


Marietta^ 


'niou 


vndly.nl 


ration 


Leesburg 


t\mobe 


’arkersburg 


The 

Karruwn 


P'S*, 


W.Union 


liiirgton 


Weston, 


Alexandria 


ilouut Vernon 


'Bhckhaimou' 


Colchester.-' 


Kulltown^' 


Staunton 


l.l.POATtS, ENGR'8 CO. N.Y. 


MAP OF WASHINGTON’S WESTERN TOUR, SEPTEMBER, 17S4. 


„ , M Rronrh of the Potomac to Cherry Tree Fork of Youghiogheny River, or projected on to Dunkard s bottom 

Heavy bars indicate old-time portage routes. (1) From the u , best portage connection between Potomac and Ohio waters; (2) the portage between the 

on the Cheat River, was the portage urged by Washington upon „ a portage in an all-Virginia route to the Ohio River; (3) the path between Crab 1 ree Fork of 

West Fork of the Monongahela and Little Kanawha rivers, sugg . ,‘F Associate Civil Engineer Schriver in 1826 for the route of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. 

Savage River and the North Fork of Deep Creek suggested by United »tme^ dec ided upon in tS2 5 by United States engineers under General Bernard, .824-26. 

(4) route for Chesapeake and Ohio Canal between Wills Creek and castieman 



































































6 tJ [\ September Mdcc lxxxiv . 


■■■ -r .... «■" » ■- ■ 

to Make to the Assembly of this State, for a re¬ 
ward.— 

The Model, & its operation upon the 
water, which had been made to run pretty 
swift, not only convinced me of what I before 
thought next to, if not quite impracticable, 
but that it might be to the greatest possible 
utility in inland Navigation; and in rapid 
currents; that are shallow.— and what adds 
vastly to the value of the discovery, is the 
simplicity of its works; as they may be made 
by a common boat builder or carpenter, and 
kept in order as easy as a plow, or any com¬ 
mon impliment of husbandry on a farm.— 

Having obtained a Plan of this Town 
(Bath) and ascertained the situation of my 
lots therein, which I examined; it appears 
that the disposition of a dwelling House, 
Kitchen & Stable cannot be more advantage¬ 
ously placed than they are marked in the copy 
I have taken from the plan of the Town; to 
which I refer for recollection, of my design; 
& My Rumsey being willing to undertake 
those Buildings, 23 I have agreed with him to 
have them finished by the io- of next July.— 

33 J ul y-— 




Washington s Diary [< 5 ? 


th 


The dwelling House is to be 36 feet by 24, 
with a gallery of 7 feet on each side of the 
House, the whole fronts.—under the House is 
to be a Cellar half the size of it, walled with 
Stone, and the whole underpined.—on the first 
floor are to be 3 rooms; one of them 24 by 20 
feet, with a chimney at the end (middle thereol) 
—the other two to be 12 by 16 feet with corner 
chimneys.— on the upper Floor there are to be 
two Rooms of equal sizes, with fire places; the 
Stair case to go up in the Gallery.—galleries 
above also.—The Kitchen and Stable are to be 
of the same size—18 by 22; the first with a 
stone Chimney and good floor above.— the 
Stable is to be sunk in the ground so as that the 
floor above it on the North, or side next the 
dwelling House, shall be level with the Yard. 
—to have a partition therein—the West part 
of which to be for a Carriage, Harness, and 
Saddles.— the East for Hay or Grain.— all 
three of the Houses to be shingled with [blank] 
Meeting with the Rev? Mf Balmain at this 
place, he says the distance from Staunton to 
the Sweet Springs is gg Miles; that is, 50 to 
what are commonly called the Augusta Springs 
34 Springs 



6*/f\ September Mdcc lxxx ?? t 


& 45 afterwards—this differs widely from 
Capt? Strodes Acc!,and both say they have trav¬ 
elled the Road.— 

From Col? Bruce 24 whom I also found at 
this place, I was informed that he had travelled 
from the North Branch of Potomack to the 
Waters of Yaughiogany, and Monongahela— 
that the Potom k where it may be made Navi¬ 
gable—for instance where M c Culloughs path 85 
crosses it, 40 Miles above 25 the old fort (Cum¬ 
berland), is but about 6 Miles to a pretty large 
branch of the Yohiogany, but how far it is prac¬ 
ticable to make the latter navigable he knows 
not, never having explored it any length down¬ 
wards.— that the Waters of Sandy Creek, which 
is a branch of cheat River, which is a branch 
of Monongahela, interlocks with these; and 
the Country between, flat—that he thinks (in 
order to ev? passing through the State of Penn¬ 
sylvania) this would be an eligible Road using 
the 10 Miles C k with a portage to the Naviga¬ 
ble Waters of the little Kanhawa; which from 
report he says, are only 10 Miles apart—he 
adds that the distance from the North branch 
to Cheat Rivf is great—and from the South 
35 South 




Washington s Diary 


[6 th 


branch greater; but it is to be observed that 
most of this information is from Report— 
vague—and not much to be depended upon; 
I therefore endeavoured to prevail upon Col? 
Bruce to explore the Country from the North 
Branch of Potomack at M c Culloughs path, or 
the highest practicable Navigation on it, to the 
Nearest Waters of Yohiogany— thence to Sandy 
Creek, & down that to its junction with the 
Cheat River—laying the whole down by actual 
surveys, & exact measurement; which he has 
promised to do, if he can accomplish it.—on 
my part I have engaged, if a Surveyor can be 
obtained, to run the Water of the little Kan- 
hawa from the Mouth to the highest Naviga¬ 
tion—thence across to the ten miles Creek on 
the Monongahela, & up that to the M° of 
Sandy Creek, in order to connect the two Forks 
together, & form a proper plan with obser¬ 
vations.—and even to continue up the Cheat 
River further, to see if a better communication 
cannot be had with the Potomac than by the 
Sandy Creek.— 

Having hired three Pack horses — to give 
my own own greater relief— I sent my Bag- 
36 Bag- 




8 th i\ September Mdcc lxxxiv . 


gage of this day about one Oclock, and ordered 
those who had charge of it, to proceed to one 
Headricks at 15 Miles Creek.— 

8 * 

C. Set out about 7 Oclock with the Doct? 
(Craik) his Son William, 26 and my Nephew 
Bushrod Washington, 27 who were to make the 
tour with us.— about ten I parted with them 
at 15 Miles Creek, 28 & recrossed the Potomack 
(having passed it ab! 3 Miles from the Springs 
before) to a tract of mine on the Virginia Side 
which I find exceedingly Rich, & must be very 
valuable.—the lower end of the Land is rich 
white oak in places 29 springey; and in the winter 
wet.—the upper part is exceedingly rich, and 
covered with Walnut of considerable size many 
of them.—Note—I requested a Mf M? Craker 
at whose House I fed my horses, & got a snack, 
& whose land joins mine—to offer mine to 
any who might apply for £10 the first year, 
/15 the next, & £25 the third—the Tenant 
not to remove any of the Walnut timber from 
off the Land; or to split it into Rails; as I 
should reserve that for my own use.— 

37 




Washington s Diary [p th 


After having reviewed this Land I again 
crossed the River & getting into the Waggon 
Road pursued my journey to the old Town 30 
where I overtook my Company & baggage— 
lodged at Col? Cresaps 31 —ab! 35 Miles this 
day 


9 th 

H Having discharged the hired Horses which 
were obtained at the springs & hired one more 
only to supply the place of one of mine, whose 
back was much hurt, we had them loaded by 
Six oclock, and was about to set out when it 
began to Rain; which looking very likely to 
continue thro the day, I had the Loads taken 
of to await the issue.— 

at this place I met with a Man who lives 
at the Mouth of ten Miles Creek on Monon- 
gahela, who assured me, that this Creek is not 
Navigable for any kind of Craft a Mile from 
its Mouth; 32 unless the Water of it is swelled 
by Rain; at which time he has known Bat- 
teaux brought 10 or 12 Miles down it.— He 
knows little of the Country betw 1 ) that and the 
38 the 



IO tJf \ September Mdcc lxxxk . 


little Kanahawa — & not more of that above 
him, on the Monongahela.— 

The day proving rainy we remained here.— 

id- 

Set off a little after 5 Oclock altho’ the 
morning was very unpromising.—finding from 
the Rains that had fallen, and description of 
the Roads, part of which between the old 
Town & this place (old Fort Cumberland) 33 
we had passed, that the progress of my Baggage 
would be tedeous, I resolved (it being neces¬ 
sary) to leave it to follow; and proceed on my¬ 
self to Gilbert Simpson’s, to prepare for the Sale 
which I had advertized of my moiety of the 
property in co-partnership with him—and to 
make arrangements for my trip to the Kan- 
hawa, if the temper and disposition of the In¬ 
dians should render it advisable to proceed.— 
Accordingly, leaving Docty Craik, his Son, and 
My Nephew with it, I set out with one Ser¬ 
vant only—dined at M T . Gwins 34 at the Fork 
of the Roads leading to Winchester and the 
old Town, distant from the latter ab! 20 Miles 
39 Miles 





Washington s Diary 


[.I I th . 


^= •" ~ 1 - • 

& lodged at Tumbersons 35 at the little Mead¬ 
ows 15 Miles further — 

The Road from the Old Town to Fort 
Cumberland we found tolerably good, as it 
also was from the latter to Gwins, except the 
Mountain which was pretty long (tho’ not 
steep) in the assent and discent: but from 
Gwins to Tumberson’s it is intolerably bad— 
there being many steep pinches of the Moun¬ 
tain—deep & Miry places—and very Stony 
ground to pass over.—after leaving the Waters 
of Wills Creek which extends up the Moun¬ 
tain (Alligany) two or three Miles as the Road 
goes, we fell next on those of George’s Creek 
which are small — after them, upon Savage 
River which are considerable: tho’ from the 
present appearance of them, does not seem 
capable of Navigation.— 


II ? 

C. Set out at half after 5 oclock from Tumber¬ 
sons, & in about 1 y 2 Miles came to what is 
called the little crossing of the Yohiogany 36 — 
the road not bad—this is a pretty considerable 
water and, as it is said to have no fall in it, may, 
40 may, 





I 2 t}f \ September Mdcc lxxxi . v 


I conceive, be improved into a valuable naviga¬ 
tion; and from every acd I have yet been able 
to obtain, communicates nearest with the N° 
Branch ofPotomackof any other.—Breakfasted 
at one Mounts or Mountains, 37 11 Miles from 
Tumberson’s; the Road being exceedingly bad, 
especially through what is called the Shades of 
death. 38 —Bated at the great crossing, 39 which is 
a large Water, distant from Mounts^ 9 Miles, 
and a better Road than between that and Tum- 
bersons—Lodged at one Daughertys 40 a Mile 
& half short of the Great Meadows—a toler¬ 
able good House—the road between the Cross¬ 
ing and Daughertys is in places, tolerable good, 
but upon the whole indifferent:—distant from 
the crossing 12 Miles.— 

12 th 

«L Left Daughertys about 6 Oclock,—stopped 
awhile at the Great Meadows 41 and viewed a 
tenament I have there, 42 which appears to have 
been but little improved, tho capable of being 
turned to great advantage, as the whole of the 
ground called the Meadows may be reclaimed 
at an easy comparitive expence & is a very good 

41 good 





Washington s Diary \l2 th 


stand for a Tavern—Much Hay may be cut 
here When the ground is laid down in Grass & 
the upland, East of the Meadow, is good for 
grain.— 

Dined at M T . Thomas Gists 43 at the Foot of 
Laurel, distant from the Meadows 12 Miles, 
and arrived at Gilbert Simpsons’ 44 about5oclock 
12 Miles further.— Crossing the Mountains, I 
found tedious and fatieguing.—from Fort Cum¬ 
berland to Gwins took me one hour and Ten 
minutes riding—between Gwins & Tumbersons 
I was near 6 hours and used all the dispatch I 
could—between Tumbersons and Mount’s I was 
full 4 hours—between Mounts and the crossing 
upwards of 3 hours—between the crossing and 
Daughertys 4 hours—between Daughertys and 
Gists 4}4 •—and between Gists and Simpsons 
upwards of 3 hours and in all parts of the Road 
that would admit it I endeavoured to ride my 
usual travelling gate of 5 Miles an hour 

In passing over the Mountains, I met num¬ 
bers of Persons & Pack horses 45 going in with 
Ginseng; & for Salt & other articles at the 
Markets below; from most of whom I made 
enquiries of the nature of the Country between 
42 between 




12 th ] September Mdcc lxxxiv . 


the little Kanhawa and ten miles Creek (which 
had been represented as a short and easy portage) 
and to my surprize found the acc*? w c . h had been 
given were so far from the truth that numbers 
with whom I conversed assured me that the 
distance between was very considerable 46 —that 
ten Miles Ck. was not navigable even for 
Canoes more than a Mile from its mouth and 
few of them, altho I saw many who lived on 
different parts of this Creek would pretend to 
guess at the distance.— 

I also endeavoured to get the best acc! I 
could of the navigation of Cheat River, & find 
that the line which divides the States of Virginia 
& Pennsylvania crosses the Monongahela above 
the Mouth of it w ch gives the command thereof 
to Pennsylvania. 47 —that where this River 
(cheat) goes through the Laurel hill, the navi¬ 
gation is difficult; not from shallow, or rapid 
water, but from an immense quantity of large 
Stones, which stand so thick as to render the 
passage even for a short Canoe impracticable— 
but I could meet with no person who seemed to 
have any accurate knowledge of the Country 
between the navigable, or such part as could be 




Washington s Diary \l2 th 


made so, of this River & the N° Branch of Po- 
tomack—all seem to agree however that it is 
rough & a good way not to be found.— 

The acc\ s given by those whom I met of 
the late Murders, & general dissatisfaction of 
the Indians, occasioned by the attempt of our 
people to settle on the N° West side of the Ohio, 
which they claim as their territory; and our 
delay to hold a treaty with them, 48 which they 
say is indicative of a hostile temper on our part, 
makes it rather improper for me to proceed to 
theKanhawa agreeably to my original intention, 
especially as I learnt from some of them (one in 
particular) who lately left the Settlement of 
Kentucke that the Indians were generally in arms 
& gone, or going, to attack some of our Settle¬ 
ments below, and that a Party who had driven 
Cattle to Detroit had one of their Company, & 
several of their Cattle killed by the Indians— 
but as these acc*; 5 will either be contradicted or 
confirmed by some whom I may meet at my Sale 
on the 15 th Insd my final determination shall be 
postponed till then.— 


44 





I3 th ~\ September Mdcc lxxxiv . 


= 


13 th 

I visited my Mill, 49 and the several tene¬ 
ments on this Tract (on which Simpson lives) 
— I do not find the land in general equal to my 
expectation of it—some part indeed is as rich 
as can be, some other part is but indifferent— 
the levellest is the coldest, and of the meanest 
quality—that which is most broken is the 
richest; tho’ some of the hills are not of the 
first quality. 

The Tenements with respect to buildings, 
are but indifferently improved — each have 
Meadow and arable, but in no great quantity.— 
the Mill was quite destitute of water—the 
works & House appear to be in very bad con¬ 
dition—and no reservoir of water—the stream 
as it runs, is all the resource it has;—formerly 
there was a dam to stop the water; but that 
giving way it is brought in a narrow confined 
& trifling Race to the forebay, w c . h and the 
trunk, which conveys the water to the wheel 
are in bad order—In a word, little Rent, or 
good is to be expected from the present aspect 
of her.— 


45 





Washington s Diary 


14 th 

C* Remained at My Gilbert Simpsons all day.— 
before Noon Col? Will m Butler 50 and the officer 
Commanding the Garrison at Fort Pitt a Capt? 
Lucket 51 came here — as they confirmed the 
reports of the discontented temper of the In¬ 
dians and the Mischiefs done by some parties 
of them—and the former advised me not to 
prosecute my intended trip to the Great Kana- 
hawa, I resolved to decline it.— 

This day also the people who lives on my 
land on Millers Run 52 came here to set forth 
their pretensions to it; & to enquire into my 
Right.—after much conversation & attempts 
in them to discover all the flaws they could in 
my Deed &c? — & to establish a fair and up¬ 
right intention in themselves. 53 —and after much 
councelling which proceeded from a division 
of opinion among themselves—they resolved 
(as all who lived on the land were not here) to 
give me their definite determination when I 
should come to the land, which I told them 
would probably happen on Friday or Saturday 
next. 


46 



75 ?] September Mdcc lxxxiv 


15 th 

H This being the day appointed for the Sale of 
my moiety of the Co-partnership Stock 54 — 
many People were gathered (more out of curi¬ 
osity I believe than from other motives) but no 
great Sale made.— My Mill I could obtain no 
bid for, altho I offered an exemption from the 
payment of Rent 15 Months.—The Plantation 
on which M r Simpson lives rented well—viz 
for 500 Bushels of Wheat, payable at any place 
with in the County that I or my Agent should 
direct.—the little chance of getting a good of¬ 
fer in money, for Rent, induced me to set it up 
to be bid for in Wheat.— 

Not meeting with any person who could 
give me a satisfactory acc! of the Navigation of 
the Cheat River (tho’ they generally agreed it 
was difficult where it passed thro’ the Laurel 
Hill) nor any acc! of the distance & kind of 
Country between that, or the Main branch of 
the Monongahela and the Waters of Potomac 
—nor of the Country between the little Kan- 
hawa and the Waters of Monongahela tho’ all 
agreed none of the former came near ten miles 
4 7 miles 




Washington s Diary 


Creek as had been confidently asserted; I gave 
up the intention of returning home that way— 
resolving after settling matters with those Per¬ 
sons who had seated my Lands on Millers Run, 
to return by the way I came; or by what is com¬ 
monly called the Turkey foot Road.— 

16 th 

«L Continued at Simpsons all day—in order to 
finish the business which was begun yesterday 
—Gave leases to some of my Ten 4 . 5 on the Land 
whereon I now am— 


17 th : 

C. Detained here by a settled Rain the whole 
day—which gave me time to close my acc 4 . s 
with Gilbert Simpson, & put a final end to my 
Partnership with him—Agreed this day with 
a Major Thomas Freeman 55 to superintend my 
business over the Mountains, upon terms to be 
inserted in his Instructions— 

18 th 

C. Set out with Doct r Craik for my Land on 
Millers Run (a branch of Shurtees Creek) 56 — 
48 Creek) 56 — 



O H t O 


MAP 

OF 

WASHINGTON COUNTY AT 
THE TIME OF WASH¬ 
INGTON’S TOUR 







































































































































































































































































































20 tJf \ September Mdcc lxxxiv . 


crossed the Monongahela at Deboirs Ferry 57 — 
16 miles from Simpsons—bated at one Hamil- 
tons 58 about 4 Miles from it, in Washington 
County, and lodged at a Col 0 Cassons 59 on the 
Waters of Shurtees Creek—a kind hospitable 
Man; & sensible 

Most of the Land over which we passed 
was hilly—some of it very rich—others thin 
—between a Col? Cooks 60 and the Ferry the 
Land was rich but broken—about Shurtee & 
from thence to Col? Cassons, the Soil is very 
luxurient and very uneven.— 

19 th . 

C. Being Sunday, and the People living on my 
Land, apparently very religious, 61 it was thought 
best to postpone going among them till tomor¬ 
row—but rode to a Doct r Johnsons 62 who had 
the keeping of Col? Crawfords (surveying Rec¬ 
ords—but not finding him at home was disap¬ 
pointed in the business which carried me 
there.— 

20 th 

C. Went early this Morning to view my Land, 
& to receive the final determination of those 
4 49 those 




Washington s Diary \20 th . 


who live upon it 63 — having obtained a Pilot 
near the Land I went first to the plantation of 
Samuel M*: Bride, who has about 

5 Acres of Meadow—& 

30 of arable Land 

under good fencing—a Logged dwelling house 
with a punchion Roof, & Stable, or small barn, 
of the same kind — the Land rather hilly, but 
good, chiefly white oak.—next — 

James M c Bride 
3 or 4 Acres of Meadow 
28 D° of arable Land 

Pretty good fencing—Land rather broken, but 
good—white & black oak mixed — a dwell¬ 
ing House and barn (of midling size) with Pun¬ 
cheon Roofs 

Thomas Biggart 

Rob! Walker living thereon as a Tenant.— 
No Meadow.— ab! 

20 Acres of arable Land 
dwelling House and single barn — fences tol¬ 
erable— and Land good.— 

William Stewart 
2j4 Acres of Meadow 
20 D° of arable Land 


5 ° 



20 t/r \ September Mdcc lxxxiv 


only one house except a kind of building ad¬ 
joining for common purposes.— good Land 
and Midling fences.— 

Matthew Hillast 
has within my line — ab? 

7 Acres of Meadow 
3 besides, Arable — also 
a small double Barn.— 

Brice M^Geechen 
3 Acres of Meadow 
20 D? arable.—under 

good fencing.—A small new Barn good.— 
Duncan M c . Geechen 
2 Acres of Meadow. 

38 D? Arable Land. 

A good single Barn, dwelling House spring 
House & several other Houses.—the Planta¬ 
tion under good fencing.— 

David Reed 

claimed by the last mentioned (Duncan M c - 
Geechen) 

2 Acres of Meadow 
18 D° Arable Land 

No body living on this place at present — the 
dwelling House and fencing in bad order. 

5 1 




Washington s Diary [20 th . 


John Reed Esquire 
4 Acres of Meadow 
38 D? Arable D° 

A Small dwelling House—but Logs for a large 
one, a Still House—good Land—and fencing 
David Reed 
2 Acres of Meadow 
17 D? Arable 

A good logged dwelling House with a bad 
Roof—several other small Houses and an in¬ 
different Barn, or Stable—bad fences; but very 
good Land 

William Hillas 
20 Acres of Arable Land 
No Meadow 

But one house, and that indifferent—fences not 
good 

John Glen 

2 or 3 Acres of Meadow within my Line 
—his plantation & the next of his Land with¬ 
out.— 

James Scott 

Placed on the Land by Thomas Lapsley—has 
17 Acres under good fencing—only a dwelling 
House (which stops the door of a Cabbin built 
52 built 




20*] September Mdcc lxxxiv . 


byCapt? Crawford)—white oak Land—rather 
thin—but good bottom to clear for Meadow.— 
Matthew Johnson 
2 Acres of Meadow 
24 D? Arable Land 

a good logged house—Materials for a dble 
Barn—very g? Land, but indifferent fences 
James Scott. 

a large Plantation 64 —about 
70 Acres of Arable Land 
4 D? of improved Meadow 
Much more may be made into Meadow.—the 
Land very good, as the fences also are— A 
Barn dwelling House & some other Houses.— 
The foregoing are all the Improvements 
upon this Tract which contains 2813 Acres— 
The Land is leveller than is common to be 
met with in this part of the Country, and good; 
the principal part of it is white oak, intermixed 
in many places with black oak; and is estemed 
a valuable tract.— 

Dined at David Reeds, after which M r 
James Scot & Squire Reed began to enquire 
whether I would part with the Land, & upon 
what terms; adding, that tho’ they did not con- 
53 


con- 




Washington s Diary 


ceive they could be dispossed, yet to avoid con¬ 
tention, they would buy, if my terms were 
Moderate.— I told them I had no inclination 
to sell; however, after hearing a good deal of 
their hardships, their Religious principles 
(which had brought them together as a society 
of Ceceders) and unwillingness to seperate or 
remove; I told them I would make them a last 
offer and this was—the whole tract at 25 S. p T . 
Acre, the money to be paid at 3 annual pay¬ 
ments with Interest;—or to become Tenants 
upon leases of 999 years, at the annual Rent of 
Ten pounds pf C n pf Ann.—The former they 
had a long consultation upon, & asked if I w? 
take that price at a longer credit, without In¬ 
terest, and being answered in the Negative they 
then determined to stand suit for the Land; 
but it having been suggested that there were 
among them some who were disposed to relin¬ 
quish their claim, I told them I would receive 
their answers individually; and accordingly 
calling upon them as they stood 
James Scott 
William Stewart 
Thomas Lapsley 
54 



2I sf \ September Mdcc lxxxiv . 


James M c Bride 
Brice M*: Geechin 
Thomas Biggar 
David Reed 
William Hillas 
James AT Bride 
Duncan M? Geechin 
Matthew Johnson 
John Reed—& 

John Glen—they severally an¬ 
swered, that they meant to stand suit, & abide 
the Issue of the Law.— 

This business being thus finished, I returned 
to Cob Cassons in Company with himself. Cob 
Nevil, 65 Capt n Swearingin (high Sherif ) 66 & a 
Capt n Richie, 67 who had accompanied me to the 
Land.— 

21 s ! 

Accompanied by Col° Casson & Cap n 
Swearingin who attended me to Debores ferry 
on the Monongahela which seperates the 
Counties of Fayette and Washington, I re¬ 
turned to Gilbert Simpson’s in the afternoon; 
after dining at one Wickermans Mill near the 
Monongahela.— 


55 




Washington s Diary \22 d . 


Col° Casson, Capt n Sweringin & Capt n 
Richie all promised to hunt up the Evidences 
which could prove my possession & im¬ 
provement of the Land before any of the 
present Occupiers ever saw it 


22 d . 

C.After giving instructions to Major Thomas 
Freeman respecting his conduct in my busi¬ 
ness, and disposing of my Baggage which was 
left under the care of My Gilbert Simpson— 
consisting of two leather & one linnen Val- 
eses with my Marquee & horseman’s Tent 
Tent Poles & Pins—all my bedding except 
Sheets (which I take home with me)—the 
equipage Trunk containing all that was put 
into it except the Silver Cups and Spoons— 
Canteens—two Kegs of Spirits—Horse Shoes 
—&c* I set out for Beason Town, 68 in order 
to meet with, & engage M! Tho? Smith 69 to 
bring Ejectments, for the Land in Wash¬ 
ington County, on which those, whose names 
are herein inserted, are settled. Reached Bea¬ 
son Town about dusk about (the way I came) 
18 miles. 


56 



22 d ^\ September Mdcc lxxxiv . 


Note.—in my equipage Trunk and the 
Canteens—were Madeira and Port Wine— 
Cherry bounce—Oyl, Mustard—Vinegar— 
and Spices of all sorts—Tea, and Sugar in the 
Camp Kettles (a whole loaf of white sugar 
broke up about 7 lbs weight) the Camp Kettles 
are under a lock, as the Canteens & Trunk also 
are—My fishing lines are in the Canteens.— 
At Beason Town I met with Capt* Har¬ 
din 70 who informed me, as I had before been 
informed by others, that the West fork of 
Monongahela communicates very nearly with 
the waters of the little Kanhawa—that the 
Portage does not exceed Nine Miles—and 
that a very good Waggon Road may be had 
between—That from the Mouth of the River 
Cheat to that of the West Fork, is computed 
to be about 30 Miles, & the Navigation good 
—as it also is up the West fork.—that the 
South or Main branch of the Monongahela has 
considerable impediments in the Way; and 
were it otherwise, would not answer the pur¬ 
pose of a communication with the North or 
South branch of Potomack from the westerly 
direction in which it runs—That the Cheat 
57 Cheat 






Washington s Diary [22 d . 

River, tho* rapid and bad, has been navigated 
to the Dunkard bottom about 25 Miles from 
its mouth—and that he has understood a good 
way may be had from thence to the North 
branch, which he thinks must be about 30 
Miles distant.— He also adds, that from the 
Settlem 1 ? on the East of the Alligany, to Mo- 
nongahela Court House on the West, it is re¬ 
ported a very good Road may be opened, and 
is already marked ; from whence to the Navi¬ 
gable Water of the little Kanhawa is ab! 
[omitted] Miles.— 

From this information I resolved to return 
home that way; & my Baggage under the 
care of Doct r Craik and Son, having, from 
Simpsons, taken the Rout by the New (or 
Turkey foot) Road 71 as it is called (which is 
said to be 20 Miles near[er] than Braddocks) 
with a view to make a more minute enquiry 
into the Navigation of the Yohiogany Waters 
— My Nephew and I set out about Noon, with 
one Col° Philips 72 for Cheat River; after I had 
engaged M r Smith to undertake my business 
& had given him such information as I was 
able to do. 


58 



September Mdcc lxxxiv . 


Note, It is adjudged proper to ascertain the 
date of the Warr! to Capt? Posey 73 —and the 
identity of his hand writing to his Bond to me; 
the latter so as to give it authenticity.— as also 
the date of hewis’s [Lewis’s] return, on which 
my Patent Issued—because if this is antecedent 
to the settlement of the occupiers of my Land, 
it will put the matter out of all kind of dispute; 
as the claim of those people rests upon their 
possessing the Land before I had any legal Sur¬ 
vey of it—not viewing Crawfords as authentic. 
—’Tis advisable also, to know whether any lo¬ 
cation of it was ever made in the Land, or Sur¬ 
veyors Office, and the date of such Entry.—and 
likewise, what Ordainance it is Capt n Crawford 
speaks of in his Letter of the 20 th of Sept! 1776 
which passed he says the last Convention, for 
saving equitable claims on the Western Waters. 74 

23 d 

Arrived at Col? Philips ab! five oclock in 
the afternoon 16 Miles from Beason Town & 
near the Mouth of Cheat Rivf the land thro’ 
w c . h I rid was for the most part tolerably level 
places rich—but in general of a 

59 of a 


—in some 




Washington s Diary [24 th . 


second quality—crossed no water of consequence 
except Georges Creek— 

An Apology made to me from the Court of 
Fayette (thro’ Mf Smith) for not addressing 
me; as they found my Horses Saddled and my¬ 
self on the move.— 

Finding by enquiries, that the Cheat River 
had been passed with Canoes thro’ those parts 
which had been represented as impassable— 
and that a Capt? Hanway—the Surveyor of 
Monongahela [Monongalia] County lived with¬ 
in two or three Miles of it, South side thereof; 
I resolved to pass it to obtain further informa¬ 
tion,—& accordingly (accompanied by Col? 
Philips) set of in the morning of the 

24 tfl 

C. And crossed it at the mouth, 75 as it was 
thought the River was too much swelled to 
attempt the ford a little higher up.—the fork 
was about 2 Miles & half from Col? Philips & 
the ground betw? very hilly tho’ rich in places. 
—The Cheat at the Mouth is about 125 y d . s 
wide — the Monongahela near d b ! e that—the 
colour 76 of the two Waters is very differ?, that of 
60 that of 



September Mdcc lxxxiv . 


Cheat is dark (occasioned as is conjectured by 
the Laurel, among which it rises, and through 
which it runs) the other is clear; & there ap¬ 
pears a repugnancy in both to mix, as there is 
a plain line of division betw” the two for some 
distance below the fork; which holds, I am told 
near a Mile.—the Cheat keeps to the right 
shore as it descends, & the other the left.— 
The Line which divides the Common¬ 
wealths of Virginia & Pennsylvania crosses 
both these Rivers about two Miles up each 
from the point of fork—& the Land between 
them is high as the line runs being a ridge 
which seperates the two Waters—but higher 
up the fork a good road (it is said) may be 
had from one River to the other.— 

from the Fork to the Surveyors Office, 
which is at the house of one Pierpoint, 77 is 
about 8 Miles along the dividing Ridge.—at 
this Office I could obtain no information of any 
Surveys or Entrie made for me by Capt* W“ 
Crawford; but from an examination of his 
books it appeared pretty evident that the 2500 
acres which he (Crawford) had surveyed for & 
offered to me on the little Kanhawa (adjoining 
61 (adjoining 




Washington s Diary \2/f th % 


the large survey under the proclamation of 
1754) he had entered for M r . Robert Ruther¬ 
ford—and that the other tract in the fork be¬ 
tween the Ohio & little Kanhawa had been 
entered by Doct! Briscoe & Sons. 78 — 

Pursuing my inquiries respecting the Navi¬ 
gation of the Western Waters, Capt" Hanway 
proposed, if I would stay all Night, to send to 
Monongahela C\ House at Morgan town, for 
Col° Zach^ Morgan 79 and others; who would 
have it in their power to give the best acc! that 
were to be obtained, which, assenting to, they 
were sent for & came,— & from them I re¬ 
ceived the following intelligence 
viz — 

That from the fork of the Monongahela & 
Cheat, to the Court House at Morgan Town, 
is, by Water, about 11 Miles, & from thence to 
the West fork of the former is 18 More.—from 
thence to the carrying place between it and a 
branch of the little Kanhawa, at a place called 
Bullstown, 80 is about 40 Miles by Land—more 
by Water—and the Navigation good—The 
carrying place is nine Miles and a half between 
the navigable parts of the two Waters; and a 
62 and a 



24 th \ September Mdcc lxxxiv , 


good Road between; there being only one hill 
in the way, and that not bad.—hence to ye 
M° of the Kanhawa is 50 Miles.— 

That from Monongahela Court House 15 
Miles along the New Road 81 which leads into 
Braddocks Road, East of the winding ridge, 
and Ni c . Culloch’s path, to one Joseph Logs- 
ton’s on the North branch of Potomack is 
about 40 Miles—that this way passes through 
Sandy Creek glades, and the glades of Yohiog- 
any, and may be made good.—but, if the Road 
should go from Clarke’s Town on the Western 
fork of Monongahela, 15 Miles below the car¬ 
rying place to the aforesaid Logston’s it would 
cross Tyger Valley River (the largest branch 
of Monongahela) above the falls therein, go 
through the glades of Monongahela; cross 
Cheat River at the Dunkers bottom (25 Miles 
from its Mouth)—and thence through the 
Glades of Yohiogany—in all f m y e . Kah* 85 
Miles 

That the Cheat River where it runs through 
the Laurel hill is, in their opinion, so incom- 
oded with large Rock stones, rapid, and dash¬ 
ing water from one Rock to another, as to be- 
63 to be- 





Washington s Diary [24* 


come impassable; especially as they do not 
think a passage sufficient to admit a Canal can 
be found between the Hills & the common bed 
of the River—but of these matters none of 
them pretended to speak from actual knowl¬ 
edge, or observation; but from Report, and par¬ 
tial views.— 

That from these rapids to the Dunkers bot¬ 
tom, & four Miles above, the Navigation is 
very good;—after which for 8 Miles, the River 
is very foul, & worse to pass than it is through 
the Laurel hill; but from thence upwards thro’ 
the horse Shoe bottom, & many Miles higher, 
it is again good, & fit for transportation; but 
(tho’ useful to the Inhabitants thereof) will 
conduce nothing to the general plan, as it is 
thought no part of the Cheat River runs nearer 
to the navigable part of the N° branch of 
Potomack than the Dunkers bottom does, 
which they add is about 25 Miles of good road. 
From the Dunkers bottom to Clarkes Town 
they estimate 35 Miles, and say the Tyger Val¬ 
ley fork of the Monongahela affords good nav¬ 
igation above the falls which is 7 Miles only 
from the Mouth, & is a Cateract of 25 feet. 

64 feet. 





September Mdcc lxxxi . v 


25 th 

<L Having obtained the foregoing information, 
and being indeed some what discouraged from 
the acc! given of the passage of the Cheat River 
through the Laurel hill and also from attempt¬ 
ing to return by the way of theDunkers bottom, 
as the path it is said is very blind & exceedingly 
grown up with briers, I resolved to try the other 
Rout, along the New Road to Sandy Creek; 
& thence by M 1 : Cullochs path to Logstons; 
and accordingly set of before Sunrise.— 

Within 3 Miles I came to the River Cheat 
ab! 7 Miles from its Mouth—at a ferry kept 
by one Ice; 82 of whom making inquiry, I learnt 
that he himself, had passed from the Dunkers 
bottom both in Canoes and with Rafts.—That 
a new Canoe which I saw at his Landing had 
come down the day before only, (the owner of 
which had gone to Sandy Creek)—that the 
first rapid was about 1 y 2 Miles above his ferry 
—that it might be between 50 and 100 yards 
thro’ it—that from this to the Next, might be 
a Mile, of good water—That these 2 Rapids 
were much alike, & of the same extent; that to 
5 65 that to 





Washington s Diary [25 th 


the next rapid, which was the worst of the three, 
it was about 5 Miles of smooth water.—That the 
difficulty of passing these rapids lies more in the 
number of large Rocks which choak the River, 
and occasion the water not only (there being 
also a greater dissent here than elsewhere) to run 
swift, but meandering thro’ them renders steer¬ 
age dangerous by the sudden turnings.—That 
from his ferry to the Dunkers bottom, along the 
River, is about 15 Miles; and in his opinion, 
there is room on one side or the other of it at 
each side of the Rapids for a Canal.— 

This acc! being given from the Mans own 
observation, who seemed to have no other mean¬ 
ing in what he asserted than to tell the truth, 
tho’ he, like others, who for want of competent 
skill in these things cou’d not distinguish be¬ 
tween real & imaginary difficulties, left no 
doubt on my Mind of the practicability of 
opening an easy passage by Water to the Dun- 
ker bottom.—the River at his house may be a 
hundred or more yards wide, according to his 
acc! (which I believe is rather large) near a 
hundred miles by water to Fort Pitt. 

The Road from Morgan Town or Monon- 
66 Monon- 



2$ tJf \ September Mdcc lxxxiv . 


gahela C! House, is said to be good to this ferry 
—distance ab! 6 Miles—the dissent of the hill 
to the River is rather Steep & bad—and the 
assent from it, on the North side, is steep also 
tho’ short, and may be rendered much better; 
—from the ferry the Laurel hill 83 is assended 
by an easy and almost imperceptible slope to 
its summit thro’ dry white Oak Land. 29 —along 
the top of it the Road continues for some dis¬ 
tance, but is not so good; as the Soil is richer, 
deeper & more stony, which inconveniences (for 
good roads) also attends the dissent on the East 
side, tho’ it is regular & in no places steep.— 
After crossing this hill the road is very good to 
the ford of Sandy Creek at one James Spur¬ 
geons, 84 ab! 15 Miles from Ice’s ferry. 

At the crossing of this Creek M c Cullochs 
path, 85 which owes its origen to Buffaloes, being 
no other than their tracks from one lick to 
another & consequently crooked & not well 
chosen, strikes off from the New road which 
passes great Yohiogany 15 Miles further on, 
and enters Braddock Road at the place before 
mentioned, at the distance of 22 Miles. 

From Spurgeon’s to one Lemons, 86 which 
67 which 




Washington s Diary \26 th . 


is a little to the right of M? Cullochs path, is 
reckoned 9 Miles, and the way not bad; but 
from Lemons to the entrance of the Yohiogany 
glades which is estimated 9 Miles more thro’ 
a deep rich Soil in some places, and a very 
rocky one in others, with steep hills & what is 
called the briery Mountain 87 to cross is intolera¬ 
ble but these might be eased & a much better 
way found if a little pains was taken to slant 
them.— 

At the entrance of the above glades I lodged 
this night, 88 with no other shelter or cover than 
my cloak. & was unlucky enough to have a 
heavy shower of Rain.—our horses were also 
turned loose to cater for themselves having 
nothing to give them.—from this place my 
guide (Lemon) informed me that the Dunkers 
bottom was not more than 8 Miles from us.— 

It may not be amiss to observe, that Sandy 
Creek has a fall within a few miles of its 
Mouth of 40 feet, & being rapid besides, 
affords no navigation at all.— 


26* 

C. Having found our Horses readily (for they 
nevf lost sight of our fire) we started at the 
68 the 




26* a ] September Mdcc 1 ***™. 

dawning of day, and passing along a small path 
much enclosed with weeds and bushes, loaded 
with Water from the overnights rain & the 
showers which were continually falling, we had 
an uncomfortable travel to one Charles friends, 89 
about i o Miles; where we could get nothing 
for our horses, and only boiled Corn for our¬ 
selves.— 

In this distance, excepting two or three 
places which abounded in Stone, & no advan¬ 
tage taken of the hills (which were not large) 
we found the ground would admit an exceed- 
ingly good Waggon Road with a little causey¬ 
ing of Some parts of the Glades; the Ridges be¬ 
tween being chiefly white oak land, intermixed 
with grit & Stone.— 

Part of these glades is the property of Govf 
Johnson 90 of Maryland who has settled two or 
three families of Palatines upon them—These 
glades have a pritty appearance, 91 resembling 
cultivated Lands & Improved Meadows at a 
distance; with woods here and there inter¬ 
spersed.—Some of them are rich, with a black 
and lively Soil—others are of a stiffer, & colder 
Nature.—all of them feel, very early, the effect 
of frost.—the growth of them, is a grass not 
69 not 




Washington s Diary [ 26 th 

much unlike what is called fancy grass, without 
the variegated colours of it; much intermixed 
in places with fern and other weeds, as also 
with alder & other Shrubs.—The Land between 
these glades is chiefly white oak, on a dry stony 
Soil.—In places there are Walnut & Crab tree 
bottoms, which are very rich—The glades are 
not so level as one would imagine—in general 
they rise from the small water courses which 
run through all of them to the Ridges which 
seperate one from another—but they are highly 
benificial to the circumjacent Country from 
whence the Cattle are driven to pasture in the 
spring & recalled at Autumn.— 

A Mile before I came to Friends, I crossed 
the Great branch of Yohiogany, 92 which is 
about 25 or 30 yards over; and impassable, ac¬ 
cording to his acd between that and Braddocks 
Road on acd of the Rapidity of the Water, 
quantity of Stone, & Falls therein—but these 
difficulties, in the eyes of a proper examiner, 
might be found altogether imaginary; and if 
so, the Navigation of the Yohiogany & N° 
Branch of Potomack may be brought within 
10 Miles & a good Waggon Road betw“; but 
70 but 



26 th ~\ Septem ber Mdcc lxxxiv . 


then, the Yohiogany lyes altogether in the State 
of Pennsylvania whose inclination (regardless 
of the interest of that part which lyes West of 
the Laurel hill) would be opposed to the exten¬ 
sion of this navigation, as it would be the inevit¬ 
able means of withdrawing from them the trade 
of all their western territory.— 

The littleYohiogany from Braddocks Road 
to the Falls below the Turkey foot, or 3 forks, 
may, in the opinion of Friend, who is a great 
Hunter, & well acquainted with all the Waters, 
as well as hills, having lived in that Country 
and followed no other occupation for nine 
years, be made navigable—and this, were it not 
for the reason just assigned, being within 22 
Miles of Fort Cumberland, would open a 
very important door to the trade of that 
Country, 

He is also of opinion that a very good road 
may be had from the Dunkers bottom to the 
N° Branch of Potomack, at or near where M? 
Cullocks path crosses it; and that the distance 
will not exceed 22 Miles, to pass by his house, 
i. e. 10 to the N® Branch & 12 to the Dun¬ 
kers bottom—half of which (10 or 11 Miles) 
71 Miles) 




Washington s Diary \26 ih 


will go through the glades, & white Oak ridges 
which seperate them 

There will be an intervention of two hills 
in this road—the back bone near the Branch 
—and the Briery Mountain near the Bottom, 
both of which may be easily passed in the low¬ 
est parts by judicious slants, & these with some 
Causeys in the richest & deepest parts of the 
glades will enable a common team to draw 
twenty hundred with ease from one place to 
the other.— 

From Friends I passed by a spring (distant 
3 Miles) called Archy’s 93 from a Man of that 
name—cross the back bone & descended into 
Ryans glade 94 .—Thence by Tho* Logston’s 95 
(the father of Joseph)—The way & distances 
as follow—to the foot of the back bone, about 
5 Miles of very good ground for A Road; be¬ 
ing partly glady, and partly white Oak Ridges. 
—across the Ridge to Ryans glade One Mile 
and half bad, the hill being steep, & in places 
Stony—to Joseph Logston’s 96 i y 2 Miles very 
good going—to the N. Branch at M^ Cul- 
lochs path 2 Miles—infamous road—and to 
Tho! Logstons 97 4 more, partly pretty good, & 
72 good, & 



26 tK \ September Mdcc lxxx ™ 


in places very bad but it has been observed 
before to what fortuitous circumstances the 
paths of this Country owe their being, & how 
much the ways may be better chosen by a 
proper investigation of it; and the distances 
from place to place reduced.—This appear’d 
evident from my own observation—and from 
young Logston, who makes hunting his chief 
employment; and according to his own acc! is 
acquainted with every hill & rivulet between 
the North Branch & the Dunkers bottom. 

He asserts that from Ryan’s glade to the N° 
branch, 2 Miles below the Mouth of Stony 
River (w c . h is about 4 below M*: Cullochs cross¬ 
ing) a very good Road may be traced, and the 
distance not more than it is from the same 
place to the crossing last mentioned, which is 
a circumstance of some importance as the N? 
Branch above its junction with Stony River 
(which of the two seems to contain most water) 
would hardly afford water for Navigation— 
He agrees precisely with Charles Friends 
respecting the Nature of the Road between the 
North Branch and the Dunkers bottom; but 
insists upon it that the distance will not exceed 
73 exceed 





Washington s Diary 


20 Miles—& that Friends ought to be left 
two Miles to the Westward—this may acc! for 
their difference of opinion ; the latter wanting 
his House to be introduced as a stage and here 
it may be well to observe; that however know¬ 
ing these people are, their acct! are to be re¬ 
ceived with great caution—compared with 
each other—and these again with one’s own 
observat n . s ; as private views are as prevalent in 
this, as any other Country; and are particularly 
exemplified in the article of Roads ; which 
(where they have been marked) seem calcu¬ 
lated more to promote individual interest, than 
the public good.— 

From the reputed distances, as I have given 
them from place to place between Mononga- 
hela Court House and the N° branch at M c . 
Cullochs ford, & description of the Country 
over which I travelled, it should seem that 
Col° Morgan and those with whom I had the 
meeting at Capt 1 ? Hanway, are mistaken in two 
points.—viz—measurement, & the goodness 
of Road—They making the distance between 
those places only 40 Miles and the way good, 
whereas by my Acc? the first is computed 55 
74 55 



26 **] September Mdcc lxxxiv . 


Miles and a part of the Road very bad—both 
however are easily accounted for; the rout be¬ 
ing circuitous, & beasts instead of Men having 
traced it out.—Altho I was seldom favored 
with a sight of the Sun but handsomely be¬ 
sprinkled with Rain the greater part of the way 
it was evident to me that from Pierpoints (Capt n 
Han ways Quart?) to the crossing of Sandy 
Creek, I rid in a N° E! direction—from thence 
for many Miles South—and afterwards South 
Easterly. 

I could obtain no good acc! of the Naviga¬ 
tion of the N° Branch between M? Culloch’s 
crossing [Fort Pendleton] and Will’s Creek (or 
Fort Cumberland) indeed there were scarce any 
persons of whom inquiries could be made: for, 
from Lemon’s to old Logstons there is only 
Friend & young Logston living on the track I 
came and none on it for 20 Miles below him— 
but in general I could gather from them, es¬ 
pecially from Joseph Logston, who has (he says) 
hunted along the Water course of the River 
that there is no fall in it—that from Fort Cum¬ 
berland to the Mouth of Savage River the wa¬ 
ter being good is frequently made use of in its 
7 r in its 




Washington s Diary [, 26 th . 


present State with Canoes—and from thence 
upwards, is only rapid in places with loose 
Rocks which can readily be removed 

From the Mouth of Savage River the State 
of Maryland (as I was informed) were opening 
a Road to their western boundary which was to 
be met by another which the Inhabitants of 
Monongahela County (in Virginia) were ex¬ 
tending to the same place from the Dunker 
bottom through the glades of Yohiogany mak¬ 
ing in the aggregate ab! 35 Miles—this Road 
will leave Friends according to his acd a little 
to the Eastward & will upon the whole be a 
good Road but not equal to the one which may 
be traced from the Dunkers bottom to the N° 
Branch at, or below the fork of it & Stony River 
At this place—viz Mf Thof Logston’s—I 
met a brother of his, an intelligent man, who 
informed me that some years ago he had trav¬ 
elled from the Mouth of Carpenters Creek 
(now more generally known by the name of 
Dunlaps) a branch of Jackson’s, which is the 
principal prong of James River 98 to the Mouth of 
Howards Creek w c . h emptys into the Greenbrier 
a large branch of New River ab? Great Kana- 
76 Kana- 



2J f?] September Mdcc lxxxiv . 


hawa—that the distance between them does 
not exceed 20 Miles—and not a hill in the 
way.—If this be fact, and he asserts it positively, 
a communication with the Western Country 
that way, if the falls in the Great Kanhawa 
(thro the gauly Mount?) Can be rendered navi¬ 
gable will be as ready,—perhaps more direct 
than any other for all the Inhabitants of the 
Ohio & its Waters below the little Kanhawa 
—and that these Falls are not so tremendous 
as some have represented I am inclined to be¬ 
lieve from several Circumstances — one of 
which, in my mind, is conclusive—so far at 
least—as they do not amount to a Cataract, 
and that is that Fish ascend them—it being 
agreed on all hands that the large Cats and other 
fish of the Ohio are to be met with in great 
abundance in the River above them.— 

27* 

C. I left M r Logston’s a little after day break 
—at 4 Miles thro’ bad road, occasioned by 
Stone, I crossed the Stony River; 99 which, as 
hath been before observed, appears larger than 
the N? Branch—at ten Miles I had by an im- 
77 


im- 




Washington s Diary [ 28 th 


perceptible rise, gained the summit of the 
Alligany Mountain and began to desend it 
where it is very steep and bad to the Waters 
of Pattersons Creek which embraces those of 
New Creek—along the heads of these, & 
crossing the Main Creek & Mountain bearing 
the same name (at the top of which at one 
Snails I dined) I came to Col°. Abrah? Hites 100 
at Fort pleasant on the South Branch about 
35 Miles from Logstons a little before the 
Suns setting. 

My intention, when I set out from Logs¬ 
tons, was to take the Road to Kumney [Rom¬ 
ney] by one Parkers but learning from my guide 
(Joseph Logston) when I came to the parting 
paths at the foot of the Alligany (ab! 12 Miles) 
that it was very little further to go by Fort 
pleasant, I resolved to take that Rout as it might 
be more in my power on that part of the 
Branch to get information of the extent of its 
navigation than I should be able to do at 
Rumney.— 

28 th 

C. Remained at Col° Hite’s all day to refresh 
myself and rest my Horses, having had a very 
78 very 



2g t}f \ September Mdcc lxxxiv . 


faticguing journey thro’ the Mountains, occa¬ 
sioned not more for the want of accomodation 
& the real necessaries of life than the showers 
of Rain which were continually falling & wet¬ 
ting the bushes-—the passing of which, under 
these circumstances was very little better than 
swimming of Rivulets. 

From Col° Hite, Col° Jos? Neville & oth¬ 
ers, I understood that the navigation of the 
South Branch in its present State, is made use of 
from Fort pleasant to its Mouth—that the 
most difficult part in it, and that would not take 
i oo to remove the obstruction (it being only 
a single rift of rocks across in one place) is 2 
Miles below the old Fort.—that this, as the 
Road goes, is 40 Miles; by water more—and 
that, from any thing they knew, or believe to 
the contrary, it might at this moment be used 
50 Miles higher, if any benefits were to result 
from it.— 

29 th 

C. Having appointed to join Doctf Craik and 
my Baggage at Col° Warner Washington’s, but 
finding it required only one day more to take 
the Rout of M r . Thof Lewis’s (near Stanton) 
79 Stanton) 




Washington s Diary \2Q th 


from whose Office I wanted some papers to en¬ 
able me to prosecute my ejectments of those 
who had possessed themselves of my Land in 
the County of Washington, State ofPensylva- 
nia; and that I might obtain a more distinct 
acc? of the Communication between Jackson’s 
River & the green Brier; — I sent my Nephew 
Bushrod Washington (who was of my party) to 
that place to request the Doctf to proceed—& 
accompanied by Capt n Hite, son to the Colonel, 
I set out for Rockingham 101 in which County 
Mr Lewis now lives since the division of Au¬ 
gusta.— 

Proceeding up the S? fork of the S? Branch 
about 24 Miles—bated our Horses & obtained 
something to eat ourselves, at one Rudiborts.— 
Thence taking up a branch & following the 
same about 4 Miles thro’ a very confined & 
rocky path, towards the latter part of it, we 
ascended a very steep point of the S? Branch 
Mountain, but which was not far across, to the 
N? fork of Shanondoah; — down which by a 
pretty good path which soon grew into a con¬ 
siderable road, we discended until we arrived at 
one Fish waters in Brocks gap, 102 about Eight 
80 Eight 



jO t/r \ September Mdcc lxxx ™ 


Miles from the foot of the Mountain—12 
from Rudiborts—& 36 from Colon. Hites— 
This gap is occasioned by the above branch of 
Shannondoahs running thro’ the Cacapehen & 
North Mountains for about 20 Miles and af¬ 
fords a good road, except being Stony & cross¬ 
ing the Water often.— 

30 th 

C, Set out early—Capt? Hite returning home 
—and travelled 11 or 12 Miles along the River, 
until I had passed thro’ the gap—then bearing 
more westerly by one Bryan's—the Widow 
Smith’s—and one Gilberts, I arrived at M r . 
Lewis’s about Sundown, after riding about 40 
Miles—leaving Rockingham C\ House to my 
right about 2 Miles 

October I st . 

Dined at M 5 Gabriel Jones’s, not half a 
mile from Mf Lewis’s, but seperated by the 
South fork of Shannondoah; which is between 
80 and a hundred yards wide & makes a respec¬ 
table appearance altho’ little short of 150 Miles 
e 81 Miles 




Washington s Diary [i st 

from its confluence with Potomack River; and 
only impeded in its navigation by the rapid 
water & rocks which are between the old 
bloomery and Keys’s ferry; and a few other 
Ripples; all of which might be easily removed. 
—and the navigation according to Mf Lewis’s 
account, extended at least 30 Miles higher than 
where he lives.— 

I had a good deal of conversation with this 
Gentleman on the Waters, and trade of the 
Western Country; and particularly with respect 
to the Navigation of the Great Kanhawa and 
its communication with James, & Roanoke 
Rivers.— 

His opinion is, that the easiest & best com¬ 
munication between the Eastern & Western 
Waters is from the North branch of Potomack 
to Yohiogany or Cheat River; and ultimately 
that the Trade between the two Countries will 
settle in this Channel. — That altho James 
River has an easy & short communication from 
the Mouth of Carpenters or Dunlaps Creek to 
the Green briar which in distance & kind of 
Country is exactly as Logston described them, 
yet, that the passage of the New River, abf 
82 ab e 



I s !] October Mdcc lxxxiv . 


Kahhawa, thro’ the gauly Mountain from every 
acd he has had of it, now is, and ever will be 
attended with considerable difficulty, if it should 
not prove impracticable.— The Fall he has 
understood, altho’ it may be short of a Cateract, 
or perpendicular tumble, runs with the velocity 
of a stream discending a Mountain, and is be¬ 
sides very Rocky & closely confined between 
rugged hills.— He adds, that from all appear¬ 
ance, a considerable part of the Water with 
which the River above abounds, sinks at or 
above this Rapid or Fall, as the quantity he 
says, from report, is greatly diminished, how¬ 
ever, as it is not to his own observations, but 
report these acd s are had, the real difficulty in 
surmounting the obstructions here described 
may be much less than are apprehended; w c . h 
supposition is well warranted by the ascertion 
of the Fish.— 

Mf Lewis is of opinion that if the obstruc¬ 
tions in this River can be removed, that the 
easiest communication of all, would be by the 
Roanoke, as the New River and it are within 
12 Miles, and an excellent Waggon Road be¬ 
tween them—and no difficulty that ever he 
83 he 




Washington s Diary \j d 


heard of, in the former, to hurt the inland 
Navigation of it. 

2 d 

C. I set off very early from M r Lewis’s who ac¬ 
companied me to the foot of the blew Ridge at 
Swift run gap, 103 io Miles, where I bated and 
proceeded over the Mountain—dined at a piti¬ 
ful house 14 Miles further where the Roads to 
Fredericksburgh (by Orange C* House) & that 
to Culpeper Court House fork.—took the lat¬ 
ter, tho’ in my judgment Culpeper Court 
House was too much upon my right for a direct 
course—Lodged at a Widow Yearlyf 12 Miles 
further where I was hospitably entertained. 


C. Left Quarters before day, and breakfasted at 
Culpeper Court house 104 which was estimated 
21 Miles, but by bad direction I must have 
travelled 25, at least.—crossed Normans ford 
10 Miles from the Court H? and lodged at 
Capt? John Ashbys 105 occasioned by other bad 
directions, which took me out of the proper 
Road, which ought to have been by Elk Run 
Church 3 or 4 Miles to the right.— 

84 



October Mdcd xxxw . 


4* 

C* Notwithstanding a good deal of Rain fell in 
the Night and the continuance of it this morn¬ 
ing (which lasted till about io Oclock) I break¬ 
fasted by Candlelight, and Mounted my horse 
soon after daybreak; and having Capt n Ashby 
for a guide thro’ the intricate part of the Road 
(which ought, tho’ I missed it, to have been by 
Prince William old Court H?) I arrived at Col¬ 
chester, 30 Miles, to Dinner; and reached 
home before Sun down; having travelled on the 
same horses since the first day of September by 
the computed distances 680 Miles.— 

And tho’ I was disappointed in one of the 
objects which induced me to undertake this 
journey namely to examine into the situation 
quality and advantages of the Land which I 
hold upon the Ohio and Great Kanhawa—and 
to take measures for rescuing them from the 
hands of Land Jobbers and Speculators—who 
I had been informed regardless of my legal & 
equitable rights, Patents, &cf; had enclosed 
them within other Surveys & were offering 
them for Sale at Philadelphia and in Europe.— 
85 Europe.— 





Washington s Diary 


I say notwithstanding this disappointment I am 
well pleased with my journey, as it has been the 
means of my obtaining a knowledge of facts— 
coming at the temper & disposition of the 
Western Inhabitants—and making reflections 
thereon, which, otherwise, must have been as 
wild, incoher*, or perhaps as foreign from the 
truth, as the inconsistency, of the reports which 
I had received even from those to whom most 
credit seemed due, generally were 

These reflections remain to be summed up 


The more then the Navigation of Poto- 
mack is investigated, & duely considered, the 
greater the advantages arising from them ap¬ 
pear.— 

The South or principal branch of Shannon- 
doah at My Lewis’s is, to traverse the river, at 
least 150 Miles from its Mouth; all of which, 
except the rapids between the Bloomery and 
Keys’s ferry, now is, or very easily may be made 
navigable for inland Craft, and extended 30 
Miles higher.—The South Branch of Potomack 
is already navigated from its Mouth to Fort 
86 Fort 




Summary 


Pleasant; which, as the Road goes, is 40 com¬ 
puted Miles; & the only difficulty in the way 
(and that a very trifling one) is just below the 
latter, where the River is hemmed in by the 
hills or mountains on each side—From hence, 
in the opinion of Col? Joseph Neville and 
others, it may, at the most trifling expense imag¬ 
inable, be made navigable 50 Miles higher.— 

To say nothing then of the smaller Waters, 
such as Patterson’s Creek, Cacapehen, Opeckon 
&c?; which are more or less Navigable;—and 
of the branches on the Maryland side, these 
two alone (that is the South Branch & Shan- 
nondoah) would afford water transportation for 
all that fertile Country between the bleu ridge 
and the Alligany Mountains; which is immense 
—but how trifling when viewed upon that 
immeasurable scale, which is inviting our at¬ 
tention ! 

The Ohio River embraces this Common¬ 
wealth from its Northern, almost to its South¬ 
ern limits. — It is now, our western boundary. 
—& lyes nearly parallel to our exterior, & 
thickest settled Country.— 

Into this River French Creek, big bever 
87 bever 



Washington s Diary 


[Beaver] Creek, Muskingham, Hockhocking, 
Scioto, and the two Miamis (in its upper Re¬ 
gion) and many others (in the lower) pour 
themselves from the westward through one of 
the most fertile Country's of the Globe; by a 
long inland navigation; which, in its present 
state, is passable for Canoes and such other 
small craft as has, thitherto, been made use of 
for the Indian trade.— 

French Creek, down w ch I have myself 
come to Venango, 106 from a lake near its source, 
is 15 Miles from Prisque [Pres’que] Isle 107 on 
lake Erie; and the Country betw 11 quite level. 
—Both big bever creek and Muskingham, com¬ 
municates very nearly with Cuyahoga; which 
runs into lake Erie; the portage with the latter 
(I mean Muskingham) as appears by the Maps, 
is only one mile; and by many other acc ts very 
little further; and so level between, that the 
Indians and Traders, as is affirmed, always drag 
their Canoes from one River to the other when 
they go to War—to hunt,— or trade.—The 
great Miame, which runs into the Ohio, com¬ 
municates with a River of the same name 
[Maumee], as also with Sandusky, which empty 
8 8 empty 



Summary 


themselves into lake Erie, by short and easy 
Portages.— And all of these are so many chan¬ 
nels through which not only the produce of 
the New States, contemplated by Congress, 108 
but the trade of all the lakes, quite to that of 
the Wood, may be conducted according to my 
information, and judgement—at least by one 
of the Routs—thro’ a shorter, easier, and less 
expensive communication than either of those 
which are now, or have been used with Canada, 
New Y k or New Orleans.— 

That this may not appear an assertion, or 
even an opinion unsupported, I will examine 
matters impartially, and endeavour to state 
facts.— 

Detroit is a point, thro’ which the Trade of 
the Lakes Huron, & all those above it, must 
pass, if it centres in any State of the Union; 109 
or goes to Canada; unless it should pass by the 
River Outawais [Ottawa], which disgorges it¬ 
self into the S* Lawrence at Montreal and 
which necessity only can compel; as it is from 
all acc ts longer and of more difficult navigation 
than the S t Lawrence itself.— 

To do this, the Waters which empty 
89 empty 



Washington s Diary 


into the Ohio on the East Side, & which com¬ 
municate nearest and best with those which run 
into the Atlantic, must also be delineated— 

These are, Monongahela and its branches, 
viz, Yohiogany & Cheat.— and the little and 
great Kanhawas; and Greenbrier which emptys 
into the latter.— 

The first (unfortunately for us) is within the 
jurisdiction of Pennsylvania from its Mouth to 
the fork of the Cheat, indeed 2 Miles higher— 
as (which is more to be regretted) the Yohio¬ 
gany also is, till it crosses the line of Maryland; 
these Rivers I am persuaded, afford much the 
shortest Routs from the Lakes to the tide water 
of the Atlantic, but one not under our controul; 
being subject to a power whose interest is op¬ 
posed to the extension of their navigation, as it 
would be the inevitable means of withdrawing 
from Philadelphia all the trade of that part of 
its western territory, which, lyes beyond the 
Laurel hill.—Though any attempt of that 
Government to restrain it I am equally well 
persuaded w d cause a separation of their terri¬ 
tory; there being sensible men among them 
who have it in contemplation at this moment. 

90 moment. 



Summary 


—but this by the by.— the little Kanhawa, 
which stands next in order, & by Hutchins’s 
table 109 * 5 of distances (between Fort Pitt and the 
Mouth of the River Ohio) is 184*4 Miles be¬ 
low the Monongahela, is navigable between 40 
and 50 Miles up to a place called Bullstown. 
—Thence there is a Portage of 9 y 2 Miles to 
the West fork of Monongahela—Thence along 
the same to the Mouth of Cheat River, and it 
to the Dunker bottom; from whence a portage 
may be had to the N° branch of Potomack. 

Next to the little, is the great Kanhawa; 
which by the above Table is 98^ miles still 
lower down the Ohio.— This is a fine Naviga¬ 
ble river to the Falls; the practicability of 
opening which, seems to be little understood; 
but most assuredly ought to be investigated. 

These then are the ways by which the 
Produce of that Country; & the peltry and fur 
trade of the Lakes may be introduced into this 
State; & into Maryl d ; which stands upon simi¬ 
lar ground.—There are ways, more difficult & 
expensive indeed by which they can also be 
carried to Philadelphia—all of which, with 
the Rout to Albany, & Montreal,—and the 
91 the 



Washington s Diary 


distances by Land, and Water, from place to 
place, as far as can be ascertained by the best 
Maps now extant—by actual Surveys made 
since the publication of them—and the infor¬ 
mation of intelligent persons—will appear as 
follow—from Detroit—which is a point, as 
has been observed, as unfavorable for us to com¬ 
pute from (being upon the North Western ex¬ 
tremity of the United territory) as any beyond 
Lake Erie can be.— 


viz — 

From Detroit to Alexandria 
is 


Cuyahoga River - - 

125 Miles 

Up the same to the Portage 

60 

Portage to Bever C k - 

8 

Down Bever C k to the Ohio 

85 

Up the Ohio to Fort Pitt - 

2 5 3°3 

The Mouth of Yohiogany - 

15 

Falls to Ditto - - - - 

5 ° 

Portage ----- 

1 

Three forks or Turkey foot 

8 

92 





Summary 


Fort Cumberl d or Wills Creek 30 


Alexandria ----- 200 304 

Total ----- 607 110 

To Fort Pitt—as above- - - 303 

The Mouth of Cheat River 75 

Up it, to the Dunker bottom 25 
North Branch of Potomack 20 

Fort Cumberland - - - 40 

Alexandria ----- 200 360 

To Alexand a by this Rout - - 663 


From Detroit to Alexandria avoiding 
Pensylvania* 

To the M° of Cuyahoga - - 125 Miles 


The carrying place with ) 

54 

Muskingham River ) 

Portage - - - - - 

1 

The M° of Muskingham - 

192 

The little Kanhawa - - 

12 384 

Up the same - - - - - 

40 

Portage to the West Bra 

10 


*The Mouth of Cheat River & 2 Miles up it is 
in Pensyl a 


93 





Washington s Diary 


Down Monongahela to Cheat 80 
Up Cheat to the Dunker bot m 25 


Portage to the N° bra. 

Potom k ----- 20 

Fort Cumberland - 40 

Alexandria ----- 200 415 

Total by this Rout - 799 


From Detroit to Richmond 
To the Mouth of the little Kanha- 


wa as above ----- 

384 

The Great Kanhawa by Hutch- 


in’s Table of Distances - 

98 x 

The Falls of the Kanhawa from 


information - 

90 

A Portage (supp e ) - - 

10 

The Mouth of Green brier & up 

it to the Portage - 

5 ° 

Portage to James R r 

33 2 8i 

Richmond ----- 

175 

Total ------ 

84O 


CNote—This Rout may he more incorrect than 
either of the foregoing, as I had only the Maps, and 
94 and 







Summary 


vague information for the Portages—and for the dis¬ 
tances from the Mouth of the Kanhawa to the Carry¬ 
ing place with Jacksons (that is James) River and 
the length of that River from the Carrying place to 
Richmond—the length of the carrying place above 
is also taken from the Map tho’ from Information 
one would have called it not more than 20 Miles. 


From Detroit to Philadelphia 
is 


To Presque Isle ----- 


Miles 

2 45 

Portage to Lebeauf - 

J 5 


Down french Creek to Venango 

75 


Along the Ohio to Toby's Creek 

2 5 

115 

To the head spring of D° - - 

45 


By a strait line to the nearest 
Water of Susque a - - - 

15 


Down the same to the West branch 

5 ° 


Fort Augusta at the Fork 

I2 5 


Mackees (or Mackoneys) C k - - 

12 


Up this -------- 

2 5 


By a strait line to Schuylk 1 - - 

15 


Reading ------- 

3 2 


Philadelphia ------ 

62 

381 

Total ------ 


74 i 


95 





Washington s Diary 


By another Rout 


To Fort Pitt as before - - 

Up the Ohio to Tobys C k 
Thence to Phil a as above 


3°3 

95 


381 


Total 


779 


CNote—The distances of places from the Mouth 
of Tobys Creek to Philad a are taken wholly from a 
comparative view of Evan’s and Sculls Maps—The 
number, and length of the Portages, are not attempted 
to be given with greater exactness than these—and 
for want of more competent Knowledge, they are 
taken by a strait line between the sources of the dif¬ 
ferent Waters which by the Maps have the nearest 
communication with each other—consequently, these 
Routs, if there is any truth in the Maps, must be 
longer than the given distances—particularly in the 
Portages, or Land part of the Transportation, because 
no Road among Mount ns can be strait—or waters 
navigable to their fountain heads. 


From Detroit to Albany 
is 


To Fort Erie, at the N end of 

Lake Erie ----- 350 


96 




Summary 


Fort Niagara— 18 Miles of 


w ch is Land transp” - 

3 ° 

380 

Oswego ------ 


l 75 

Fall of Onondaga River 

12 


Portage ----- 

1 


Oneida Lake by Water - - 

40 


Length of D° to Wood C k - 

18 


Wood C k very small and 



Crooked - 

2 5 


Portage to Mohawk - 

1 

97 

Down it to the Portage - 

60 


Portage - - - - 

1 


Schenectady ----- 

55 


Portage to Albany - - 

15 

I 3 I 

In all ----- 


V) 

00 

To the City of New York - - 


160 

Total ----- 


943 


From Detroit to Montreal 
is 

To Fort Niagara as above - - 380 

North end of Lake Ontario 225 







Washington s Diary 


Oswegatche ----- 60 

Montreal—very rapid - - no 395 

In all ----- 7 "t 5 110 

To Quebec - -- -- - 180 

Total ----- 955 


Admitting the preceding Statement, which 
as has been observed is given from the best and 
most authentic Maps and papers in my posses¬ 
sion—from information—and partly from ob¬ 
servation, to be tolerably just, it would be 
nugatory to go about to prove that the Country 
within, and bordering upon the Lakes Erie, 
Huron, & Michigan would be more convenient 
when they came to be settled—or that they 
would embrace with avidity our Markets, if we 
should remove the obstructions which are at 
present in the way to them.— 

It may be said, because it has been said, & 
because there are some examples of it in proof, 
that the Country of Kentucke, about the Falls, 
and even much higher up the Ohio, have 
carried flour and other articles to New Orleans 
—but from whence has it proceeded?—Will 
98 Will 





Summary 


any one who has ever calculated the difference 
between Water & Land transportation wonder 
at this?—especially in an infant settlement 
where the people are poor and weak handed 
—and pay more regard to their ease than to 
loss of time, or any other circumstance? 

Hitherto, the people of the Western Coun¬ 
try having had no excitements to Industry, 
labour very little;—the luxuriancy of the Soil, 
with very little culture, produces provisions in 
abundance—these supplies the wants of the en- 
creasing population—and the Spaniards when 
pressed by want have given high prices for flour 
—other articles they reject; & at times, (con¬ 
trary I think to sound policy) shut their ports 
against them altogether—but let us open a 
good communication with the Settlements west 
of us—extend the inland Navigation as far as 
it can be done with convenience—and Shew 
them by this means, how easy it is to bring the 
produce of their Lands to our Markets, and see 
how astonishingly our exports will be increased; 
and these States benefitted in a commercial 
point of view—w ch alone is an object of such 
Magnitude as to claim our closest attention— 
99 attention— 




Washington s Diary 


but when the subject is considered in a political 
point of view, it appears of much greater im¬ 
portance. 

No well informed Mind need be told, that 
the flanks and rear of the United territory are 
possessed by other powers, and formidable ones 
too—nor how necessary it is to apply the 
cement of interest to bind all parts of it together, 
by one indissoluble band — particularly the 
middle States with the Country immediately 
back of them—for what ties let me ask, 
should we have upon those people; and how 
entirely unconnected sho? we be with them 
if the Spaniards on their right or great Britain 
on their left, instead of throwing stumbling 
blocks in their way as they now do, should en- 
vite their trade and seek alliances with them? 
—What, when they get strength, which will 
be sooner than is generally imagined (from the 
emigration of Foreigners who can have no pre- 
deliction for us, as well as from the removal 
of our own Citizens) may be the consequence of 
their having formed such connections and alli¬ 
ances, requires no uncommon foresight to pre¬ 
dict.— 


ioo 




Summary 


The Western Settlers—from my own ob¬ 
servation— stand as it were on a pivet—the 
touch of a feather would almost incline them 
any way — they looked down the Mississippi 
until the Spaniards (very impolitically I think 
for themselves) threw difficulties in the way, 
and for no other reason that I can conceive 
than because they glided gently down the 
stream, without considering perhaps the tede- 
ousness of the voyage back, & the time neces¬ 
sary to perform it in;—and because they have 
no other means of coming to us but by a long 
land transportation & unimproved Roads. 

A combination of circumstances make the 
present conjuncture more favorable than any 
other to fix the trade of the Western Country 
to our Markets.—The jealous & untoward dis¬ 
position of the Spaniards on one side, and the 
private views of some individuals coinciding 
with the policy of the Court of G. Britain on 
the other, to retain the Posts of Oswego, Niag¬ 
ara, Detroit &c* (which tho’ done under the 
letter of the treaty is certainly an infraction of 
the Spirit of it, & injurious to the Union) may 
be improved to the greatest advantage by this 
i o i this 



Washington s Diary 


State if she would open her arms, & embrace 
the means which are necessary to establish it— 
The way is plain, & the expence, comparitively 
speaking deserves not a thought, so great would 
be the prize—The Western Inhabitants would 
do their part towards accomplishing it,— weak 
as they now are, they would, I am pursuaded 
meet us half way rather than be driven into 
the arms of, or be in any wise dependent upon, 
foreigners; the consequence of which would 
be, a seperation, or a War.— 

The way to avoid both, happily for us, is 
easy, and dictated by our clearest interest.— It 
is to open a wide door, and make a smooth way 
for the Produce of that Country to pass to our 
Markets before the trade may get into another 
channel—this, in my judgment, would dry up 
the other Sources; or if any part should flow 
down the Mississippi, from the falls of the 
Ohio, in Vessels which may be built—fitted 
for Sea—& sold with their Cargoes, the pro¬ 
ceeds I have no manner of doubt, will return 
this way; & that it is better to prevent an evil 
than to rectify a mistake none can deny—com¬ 
mercial connections of all others, are most diffi- 
102 diffi- 




Summary 


cult to dissolve—-if we wanted proof of this, 
look to the avidity with which we are renew¬ 
ing, after a total suspension of Eight years, our 
corrispondence with Great Britain; — So, if we 
are supine, and suffer without a struggle the 
Settlers of the Western Country to form com¬ 
mercial connections with the Spaniards, Brit¬ 
ons, or with any of the States in the Union we 
shall find it a difficult matter to dissolve them 
altho’ a better communication should, there¬ 
after, be presented to them — time only could 
affect it; such is the force of habit! — 

Rumseys discovery of working Boats against 
stream, by mechanical powers principally, may 
not only be considered as a fortunate invention 
for these States in general but as one of those 
circumstances which have combined to render 
the present epoche favorable above all others 
for securing (if we are disposed to avail our¬ 
selves of them) a large portion of the produce 
of the Western Settlements, and of the Fur and 
Peltry of the Lakes, also.—the importation of 
which alone, if there were no political con¬ 
siderations in the way, is immense.— 

It may be said perhaps, that as the most 
103 most 




Washington s Diary 


direct Routs from the Lakes to the Navigation 
of Potomack are through the State of Pensyl- 
vania—and the inter! of that State opposed to 
the extension of the Waters of Monongahela, 
that a communication cannot be had either by 
the Yohiogany or Cheat River;—but herein 
I differ.—an application to this purpose would, 
in my opinion, place the Legislature of that 
Commonwealth in a very delicate situation.— 
That it would not be pleasing I can readily 
conceive, but that they would refuse their as¬ 
sent, I am by no means clear in.—There is, 
in that State, at least 100,000 Souls West of 
the Laurel hill, who are groaning under the 
inconveniences of a long land transportation.— 
They are wishing, indeed looking, for the ex¬ 
tension of inland Navigation; and if this can 
not be made easy for them to Philadelphia — 
at any rate it must be lengthy—they will seek 
a Mart elsewhere; and none is so convenient 
as that which offers itself through Yohiogany 
or Cheat River. — the certain consequence 
therefore of an attempt to restrain the extension 
of the Navigation of these Rivers, (so consonant 
with the interest of these people) or to impose 
104 impose 



Summary 


any extra: duties upon the exports, or imports, 
to, or from another State, would be a seperation 
of the Western Settlers from the old & more 
interior government; towards which there is 
not wanting a disposition at this moment in 
the former. 





I 























Washington and the Awakening 
of the West 


T HE Revolutionary War was over. The “ Tri¬ 
umph,^” a French man-of-war, arrived at 
Philadelphia March 23, 1783, and brought the 
news of the signing of the preliminary treaty at 
Paris; then peace was assured, bringing with it 
independence. General Washington resigned his 
command before Congress at Annapolis in the fol¬ 
lowing December, and on the day before Christ¬ 
mas he arrived at Mount Vernon. 1 

It was a memorable home-coming; and if the 
maidens did not cast flowers before him on his 
journey thither it was because the season forbade, 
and not because the hearts of his countrymen were 
less warm than when, eight years before, he had 
ridden forth to take command under the Cam¬ 
bridge Elm. Few men ever retained under simi¬ 
lar circumstances — through delays and retreats 
and defeats — the unwavering faith of so many 
people through so many dark years. 

But there was great need of his return home; 
as is well known, Washington received for his 
services throughout the war nothing save only his 
107 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


[2 


necessary expenses; financially the war had cost 
him very dear; he owned a large and scattered 
estate, distributed over Virginia, Florida, New 
York, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and West 
Virginia. In the management of this property 
nothing could take the place of his own personal 
attention and shrewd executive ability. It is a 
legend about Mount Vernon that Washington was 
extremely close-fisted; most men are — who have 
anything in their fists. At any rate, penurious or 
no, Washington had ever paid strictest attention 
to his affairs, and when everything fell to the care 
of overseers who could not be diligently overseen, 
mismanagement and considerable loss followed. 
He put it very mildly when he wrote General 
Schuyler: “ I have been too long absent for my own 
convenience.” A man penurious at heart would 
have allowed his country to reimburse him of all 
losses; this Washington could not do if he would. 

For the following reason: while the Mount 
Vernon farms had perhaps made poorer returns 
during this period of neglect, they were still in his 
possession; but not so with the immense acreage 
which belonged to him west of the Alleghanies, 2 
where no man’s farm was safe unless diligently 
protected by its owner from occupation by the 
army of immigrants that was pouring into the 
West. Indeed, upon a careful examination of his 
affairs, Washington now found that squatters had 
108 


3] 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


settled upon some of his richest lands, and, what 
was more exasperating, that certain parts of his 
land were being offered for sale in Philadelphia 
and in Europe by thieving land agents.* Little 
wonder that he now wrote Chevalier de la Luzu- 
rene, in reply to an invitation to visit France, that, 
so far from being able to make a trip abroad, he 
was too old a man to hope even to bring his private 
affairs to a state of order during the remainder of 
his life! f 

Therefore it now seemed to Washington neces¬ 
sary to make a westward journey immediately. 
A very valuable tract of land owned by him in 
Pennsylvania had been appropriated by about a 
dozen families upon whom the threats of his 
agent, Gilbert Simpson, 3 had had no effect. Simp¬ 
son, who lived on the Youghiogheny River at the 
present Perryopolis, Pennsylvania, on a tract of 
Washington’s land, had been in his service since 
the outbreak of the Revolution. J Since that time 
Washington had probably never had an opportu¬ 
nity to settle affairs with him. It is clear that 
Washington desired to hold on to his lands on the 
Ohio River, and make arrangements to sell that 
which lay further away, on the Great Kanawha. 
“ My property in that country,” he wrote one of 

* See ante, p. ioi. 

t Jared Sparks, Writings of Washington (New York, 1874), 
IX, 57- 

tC. W. Butterfield, Washington-Crawford Letters, 60 seq. 

109 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


[4 


his correspondents after his return from the jour¬ 
ney, “ having previously undergone every kind of 
diminution, which the nature of it will admit, to 
see the condition of my lands, which were nearest 
and settled, and to dispose of those, which were 
more remote and unsettled, was all I had in view.” * 
He accordingly made an appointment to be at 
Simpson's house on the fifteenth of the following 
September, when a public sale of his co-partner 
interest with Simpson should be held. Simpson 
had built Washington's mill here and managed 
the twelve hundred-acre estate. 

He chose as his companions his nephew Bushrod 
Washington and his old family physician, Dr. 
James Craik, 4 to whom he wrote on July ioth as 
follows: “ I have come to a resolution, if not pre¬ 
vented by anything at present unforseen, to take a 
trip to the western country this fall, and for that 
purpose to leave home the first of September. . . . 
I mention all these matters, that you may be fully 
apprized of my plan, and the time it may probably 
take to accomplish it. If, under this information, 
it would suit you to go with me, I should be very 
glad of your company. No other person except 
my nephew, Bushrod Washington, and that is un¬ 
certain, will be of the party; because it can be no 
amusement for others to follow me in a tour of 
business, and from one of my tracts of land to 

* Sparks, Writings of Washington , IX, 58, note. 

IIO 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


another; for I am not going to explore the coun¬ 
try, nor am I in search of fresh lands, but to se¬ 
cure what I have; . . . For this reason I shall 
continue to decline all overtures, which may be 
made to accompany me. ... If you go, you will 
have occasion to take nothing from hence, but a 
servant to look after your horses, and such bed¬ 
ding as you may think proper to make use of. I 
will carry a marquee, some camp utensils, and a 
few stores. ... A few medicines, and hooks and 
lines, you may probably want.”* It appears later 
that Washington was likewise supplied with 
“ hooks and lines,” which the old friends had 
probably used on former jaunts like this one now 
planned. Lafayette landed in New York on the 
fourth of the following month, August; he came 
immediately to Mount Vernon to see Washington, 
arriving on the seventeenth and remaining until 
August 30th. 

Promptly on the day appointed, September 1st, 
the little cavalcade rode down the shady lanes of 
Mount Vernon and headed up the Potomac. I 
fancy the General had looked forward, perhaps 
eagerly, to this day; somewhere between the for¬ 
mal lines of his letters and the commonplace sen¬ 
tences of the diary he now began, there is a 
hearty, joyous note, as though the man were hon¬ 
estly glad to throw his leg over a horse again for 

* Sparks, Writings of Washington, IX, 52-53- 

III 


WASHINGTON AND THE 

one more and his last ride into the Alleghanies. 
It had been fourteen years since Washington had 
visited the battlefields of his boyhood; twelve 
years previous to that (1758) he had marched 
with the “Head of Iron/’ as the Indians called 
Forbes, to the capture of Fort Duquesne; three 
years before (1775) he had gone over the same 
path he should now pursue, as aide to General 
Braddock; he had commanded in person the 
Fort Necessity campaign of 1754, and in 1753 
had made his first Western trip as envoy extraor¬ 
dinary from theGovernor of Virginia totheFrench 
forts on the upper Alleghany. If the man had a 
heart it surely warmed to the thought of another 
tour over this pathway with all the heritage of 
memories left by the thirty-one marvelous years 
since the first memorable journey over it had been 
made. Beyond the head of the Potomac lay the 
bright, sunshiny portals to the forest-bound Ohio 
Valley—Little Meadows and Great Meadows be¬ 
yond “ the Shades of Death ”; there were the fad¬ 
ing mounds of Fort Necessity, the pile of stones 
above Jumonville’s grave under the lonely 
shadow of Laurel Hill Mountain, and the tram¬ 
pled resting-place of the brave, wilful Braddock, 
who knew not the word “ retreat ” until a French 
bullet drove it from his bleeding lungs. . I doubt 
if, after his homestead acres, he loved any portion 
of his country as he loved those sighing forests 
112 


5-8] 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


on the Ohio and its two great tributaries; if he 
was more the Father of one portion of his country 
than another, he was preeminently the Father of 
this West; here he had become known to two con¬ 
tinents ; here he had risked his life for his country 
as nowhere else; here he had proposed to make his 
last stand for independence if the Revolution in 
the seaboard States had failed; here lay his 
wealth; thither he turned eagerly, I would fain 
believe, when the Revolution was over. 

The noon hour overtook the travelers — Gen¬ 
eral Washington and Dr. Craik—near the pres¬ 
ent village of Falls Church near Arlington Ceme¬ 
tery, where they dined at the tavern kept by one 
Trammell, 5 doubtless a relative of John Tram¬ 
mell who gave the land in the village for the site 
of the Episcopal Church of which General Wash¬ 
ington was vestryman. Following what is now 
the Georgetown-Leesburg pike, a tavern kept by 
one Shepherd, seventeen miles from Alexandria, 
near the present Difficult Run, 6 was reached by 
nightfall; Washington owned 300 acres of land 
here,* which was latterly purchased by some of 
the Shepherd 7 family, which was probably well-to- 
do. The baggage horses had suffered to-day, and 
on the morrow they were left to follow slowly to 
Leesburg, 8 where the party dined, and proceeded 
with the baggage to lay that night at the tavern 

* See ante, p. 11 . 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


[ 9-11 


of one Israel Thompson, 9 some thirty-six miles 
from Shepherd’s. 

Leaving Dr. Craik to come slowly with the 
baggage, Washington proceeded alone at sunrise 
to the home of his brother, Colonel Charles Wash¬ 
ington, 10 probably by way of Snicker’s Gap* 
through the Blue Ridge and the present Castle- 
man’s Ferry 11 over the Shenandoah River. 
Charles was six years younger than George; he 
lived at his homestead, “ Happy Retreat,” near the 
town laid out by him and named in his honor, 
Charlestown, now Jefferson County, West Vir¬ 
ginia. Here the General also had property,f and, 
according to appointment previously made,J he 
met and transacted business with his tenants here. 

A bevy of relatives and friends were on hand to 
welcome the distinguished traveler at “ Happy 
Retreat.” Washington was now at the height 
of his fame; artful cabals directed by shrewd, 
jealous rivals had failed either to sting the patient 
man into resignation or goad him to undignified 
behavior; he had won his war with England, 
sufficiently flattered the French, ignored the 
jealousy of rivals with a fine disdain, and had come 
out from all the toils, which at times threatened 

* Washington’s route in 1770. See “Journal of a Tour to the 
Ohio, 1770,” entry of November 29, Sparks, Writings of Wash¬ 
ington, II, 534. 

t See ante, p. 11. 

t Sparks, Writings of Washington, IX, 52. 

114 


12 - 141 AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


his private and public undoing, wholly a con¬ 
queror. He had held his temper so under control 
through all the perplexing distresses of the eight 
years’ war that it is an interesting problem much 
discussed whether or no he lost it at a certain 
critical moment in a strategic battle. One of the 
party to bid him welcome was his cousin Colonel 
(?) Warner Washington, 12 the agent of Lord 
Fairfax in the county and region in which he 
lived, seventeen years George’s senior; another 
was the bold General Daniel Morgan 13 from his 
farm “Saratoga” near Winchester, leader of 
Revolutionary frontiersmen from the Alleghanies 
and beyond, now forty-eight years of age. 

It may well be inferred that Morgan was one 
of those whom Washington had directed to meet 
him at “Happy Retreat”; the conversation be¬ 
tween them suggests this. We now discover 
Washington’s other mission 14 in his Western 
journey; it may have been at the outset only an 
incidental feature of his purpose in going West, 
but so far as his diary represents him it became 
his one chief object, namely, as he says, “ to obtain 
information of the nearest and best communica¬ 
tion [passageway] between the Eastern & West¬ 
ern Waters; & To facilitate . . . the Inland 
Navigation of the Potomack.” The two main 
streams which form the Potomac are known 
as the “ South Branch” and the “North Branch,” 

US 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


[15 


which meet near Cumberland, Maryland. The 
North Branch closely interlocks in Garrett County, 
Maryland, with the heads of the two main tribu¬ 
taries of the Monongahela River, the Youghio- 
gheny and Cheat rivers. So far as a communi¬ 
cation between the Potomac and the Ohio River 
was concerned, the problem resolved itself into a 
study of the navigation of the North Branch to a 
point near Fort Pendleton, Hardy County, West 
Virginia and joining the Youghiogheny River 
near Oakland, Maryland, or the Cheat River 
near Kingwood, West Virginia, with the North 
Branch by a canal or a portage road. General 
Morgan, who had commanded that famous rifle- 
corps of men from the borderland, would be likely 
to know many facts concerning the navigation of 
the upper Potomac and the nature of the country 
between the North Branch and the Youghiogheny 
and Cheat rivers. Thus Washington doubtless 
argued, but he seems to have overestimated Mor¬ 
gan’s knowledge; exceedingly little was known of 
the region drained by the North Branch. 

Morgan did know that a road was being 
planned running from Winchester westward “ to 
avoid if possible an interference with any other 
State.” This remark 15 is very interesting, and 
brings out a matter of considerable moment 
in that day. The Potomac River, the joint prop¬ 
erty of Maryland and Virginia, stretched east and 
116 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 

west from the Alleghanies to the sea, across two 
whole longitudes. It interlocked closely in the 
mountains with the head waters of the Ohio; 
these head streams were the two Youghiogheny 
rivers (Big and Little) and the Cheat River. The 
heads of these streams and that of the North 
Branch were in Virginia. But before the waters 
of the Youghiogheny or Cheat reached the Ohio, 
at Pittsburgh, they entered the State of Pennsyl¬ 
vania, Mason and Dixon’s Line having been com¬ 
pleted this year—1784. Suppose now that Vir¬ 
ginia should vote for the improvement of the 
navigation of the Potomac and of the Youghio¬ 
gheny and the building of a highway or a canal 
between them; these improvements could extend 
only to Mason and Dixon’s Line. Would Penn¬ 
sylvania improve the remainder of the Youghio¬ 
gheny and thus complete this line of communica¬ 
tion from Pittsburgh and the Ohio River to 
Alexandria and Georgetown? Never. Pennsyl¬ 
vania legislators would not raise a finger to turn 
the commerce of the Ohio basin toward Virginia 
or Maryland ports. Indeed, the spirit of rivalry 
was so intense in this respect that it would 
hardly be an exaggeration to say that Penn¬ 
sylvania would prefer seeing the trade beyond 
the mountains go on down the Ohio to the 
Spaniards at New Orleans than see it turned to 
Virginia. The rivalry of the States at this “ criti- 

11 7 


WASHINGTON AND THE 

cal period ” along commercial lines was marvel¬ 
ously bitter; indeed, it was one of the chief obsta¬ 
cles met by the forefathers when attempting to 
frame a common platform or Constitution. The 
numerous references to this specific instance of 
interstate rivalry in the diary shows in an in¬ 
teresting way, because purely incidentally, the 
power that it exerted and the necessity of reckon¬ 
ing sternly with it. As late as 1835 we find a strik¬ 
ing instance of this same thing in New England. 
Edward Everett, in an address at Faneuil Hall 
in behalf of the Western (Boston and Albany) 
Railroad, shows that western Massachusetts was 
linked commercially with New York rather than 
Boston. “ Having occasion/’ said the orator, 
'Cast week to go to Deerfield, I took the north 
road from Worcester, through Templeton, Athol, 
and the country watered by Miller’s River. . . . 
And what, Mr. President, do you think I saw? 
We had scarce drawn out of the [Athol] village, 
and were making our way along through South 
Orange and Erving’s Grant, when I saw two 
wagons straining up a hill,— the horses’ heads to 
the east,—the wagons laden with crates, casks 
and bales of foreign merchandise, which had come 
from Liverpool, by the way of Hartford, from 
New York! I hold that, sir, a little too much for 
a Massachusetts man to contemplate without 
pain.” * It would be putting it very mildly to say 

* Orations and Speeches (Boston, 1865), II, 146. 

n8 


161 AWAKENING OF THE WEST 

that Pennsylvania would be “ pained ” to see the 
trade of the “ Pitt Country” passing up the 
Youghiogheny or Cheat rivers toward the Poto¬ 
mac. Another striking and contemporaneous 
instance of interstate jealousy is found in Penn¬ 
sylvania’s repeated generosity in granting the 
Baltimore and Ohio Railway a right of way in 
that State and her refusal to do this immediately 
upon the formation of the Pennsylvania Railway 
Company. Washington was a Virginian of Vir¬ 
ginians, and he desired to establish a great water 
highway from tide-water to the Ohio and Great 
Lakes that should be wholly in Virginia. Know¬ 
ing that both the Youghiogheny and Cheat led 
into Pennsylvania, he now became anxious to 
find another route; a substantial hint of this 
came from the landlord of the next inn at 
which he stopped on his way to Bath, Berkeley 
County. 

Leaving his brother’s at noon of September 4th, 
he reached the house of one Stroud, 16 between 
Opecken Creek and Martinsburg, by nightfall. 
Stroud was “ not much ” on the region between 
the Potomac and Youghiogheny or Cheat, but he 
had traversed the West * and knew some of its 
characteristics; for instance, he told Washington 

* Mr. Stroud was, without doubt, closely connected with the 
family of that name which was murdered near the Great Kana¬ 
wha in 1772. See Virgil A. Lewis, History of West Virginia 
(Philadelphia, 1889), 113-114; R. G. Thwaites, Withers's Chron¬ 
icles of Border Warfare, 136-137* 

HQ 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


[17 


of the glades 17 of the Alleghanies in Garrett 
County, Maryland, and Preston County, West 
Virginia; these glades were then, even more than 
they are in our day of summer resorts, the beau¬ 
tiful, sunny spots in those wide expanses of 
rugged heights. The largest glades are the Great 
Glades of the Youghiogheny, spreading out east 
and west from the “ Yoh ” River, as it is called lo¬ 
cally. The Sandy Creek Glades lie .to the west¬ 
ward of Briery Mountain, along the creek of that 
name. Here fire, storm, heat or cold had 
brushed away the forests and laurel thickets, and 
in their place waved long grasses and wild flow¬ 
ers on the highland mountain summits. For 
scores of miles not a tree was to be seen save 
where little rivulets traced a course toward the 
Ohio or Potomac. These smiling meadows on 
the roof of the Alleghanies are not more popu¬ 
lar with summer tourists to-day than with the 
large game-animals, the deer, elk and buffalo of 
a century ago. When the pioneers came the 
glades were the great pasture-grounds for all 
who could reach them. Writes a traveler to 
what is now Oakland, Deer Park and Mountain 
Lake Park in 1796: "... there is not a tree to be 
found, but the ground is covered knee-deep with 
grass and herbs, where both the botanist and the 
cattle find delicious food. Many hundred cat¬ 
tle are driven yearly, from the South Branch and 
120 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


other surrounding places, and intrusted to the 
care of the people who live there. What can 
be the cause of this strange phenomenon! One 
can only suppose that at one time these glades 
were covered with timber, which, overthrown by 
a mighty hurricane, gradually dried and fell into 
decay. But it would take too long,” the writer 
cautiously adds, “ to give the many reasons and 
arguments both for and against this supposi¬ 
tion.” * The “ Barrens ” of Kentucky and the 
prairies of Indiana and Illinois were similarly de¬ 
nuded regions. “This destruction of the timber,” 
writes Professor Shaler, “ was brought about by 
the custom, common to the Western Indians, of 
burning the grass of open grounds and the under¬ 
growth of the woods, in order to give a more vig¬ 
orous pasturage to the buffalo and other large 
game.” f “ This [forest fire] would seem to have 
been the cause,” writes R. T. Durrett, “ from the 
fact that so soon as the Indians were driven from 
the country this region was covered with a new 
growth of young trees. ... It is difficult to un¬ 
derstand how the Indians could have set fire to an 
original forest; but if this original forest had been 
once destroyed by drought, insects, or any other 
agent, it is easy to conceive how they might have 
kept new trees from growing by the use of fire. 

* Hulbert, Historic Highways of America , XII, 80. 

t N. S. Shaler, Kentucky (Commonwealth Series), 28-29. 


121 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


[18 


Whatever may have been the original cause of the 
Barrens, they were there contemporaneously with 
the Indians, and when the Indians were gone the 
trees began to grow.” * 

The “ Great Glades of the Yoh ” are as popular 
to-day, and more so than ever in their history, 
dotted with cottages, hotels, roomy farm-houses, 
tennis-courts and golf links running across them 
from east to west from Mountain Lake Park to 
Terra Alta. 

Captain Stroud informed Washington that he 
had learned from “old Capt? Tho? Snearen- 
ger,” 18 probably one of the hardy, pioneer Swear- 
engin family of the upper Ohio, that the navigable 
waters of the Little Kanawha River, which 
empties into the Ohio River at what is now Park¬ 
ersburg, West Virginia, were not far distant 
from the navigable waters of the Monongahela; 
therefore if a connection could be made between 
the Potomac and Cheat, that river could be de¬ 
scended to the Monongahela; in turn, that river 
could be ascended to a point nearest the Little 
Kanawha; when this portage could be completed 
the cargo could be sent down to the Ohio—never 
having gone out of the State of Virginia. This 
was the only all-Virginia river route from the Po¬ 
tomac, if, indeed, this proved practicable; the only 

* The Centenary of Louisville (Filson Club Pub. 

No. 8), 12, note. 

122 


i8j-i9] AWAKENING of the west 


other route was from the head of the James River 
to the New River, a tributary of the Great Kana¬ 
wha, which emptied into the Ohio River at Point 
Pleasant, West Virginia. A stranger stopping 
at Stroud's had just come from Colonel David 
Shepperd's, 18H the old Wheeling pioneer, and gave 
Washington a description of the ancient Catfish 
Path (later Cumberland National Road) route 
from Wheeling to Brownsville, Pennsylvania. 
Captain Stroud had gone 19 west in part by the 
route through Staunton and Warm Springs 
(Bath County, Virginia), and Boone's road 
through “the Wilderness" of Kentucky (Bell, 
Knox, Clay, etc., counties), leading to Boonesbor- 
ough and Lexington in the Blue Grass Region.* 
The main impediment in this route were the falls 
or rapids in both the New and Great Kanawha 
rivers, below Chisel's Mine. When Washington 
sought to introduce the bill permitting the forma- 

* This route from Virginia to Kentucky is thus given in an 
itinerary by John Filson in this year (1784): “To Winchester 
13 (Miles), To New Town 8, To Stoverstown 10, To Woodstock 
12, To Shenandoah River 15, To North Branch Shenandoah 29, 
To Staunton 15, To North Fork James River 37, To Botetourt 
C. H. 12, To Woods on Catawba River 21, To Pattersons on 
Roanoke 9, To Alleghany Mountain 8, To New River 12, To 
Forks of Road 16, To Fort Chisel 12, To Stone Mill 11, To 
Boyds 8, To Head of Holstein 5.” By this measurement it was 
99 miles from Staunton to New River. The two forks of the 
James, Carpenter’s and Jackson’s rivers, interlocked with the 
two forks of the Great Kanawha, the Greenbrier and New rivers. 
The Upper Roanoke also interlocked with New River. See 
Evans’s Map. 


123 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


tion of private companies for the improvement of 
the Potomac, in 1774, he found strong champions 
in the Virginia House of Burgesses for the James 
River; and his bill was amended to favor that 
river equally with the Potomac. 

From this on Washington pursues steadily the 
idea of joining the Potomac with the Ohio by way 
of the Cheat and West Fork of the Monongahela 
and Little Kanawha; thus the traveler would pur¬ 
sue the following remarkable route in passing 
from, say, Alexandria, Virginia, to Cleveland, 
Ohio: (1) Ascend the Potomac; (2) ascend the 
South Branch; (3) cross a portage road to 
Dunkards Bottom on Cheat River; (4) descend 
Cheat River to junction with Monongahela; (5) 
ascend Monongahela; (6) ascend West Fork of 
Monongahela; (7) cross portage to Bullstown on 
Little Kanawha; (8) descend Little Kanawha to 
Ohio; (9) ascend Ohio to Marietta at mouth of 
Muskingum; (10) ascend Muskingum to por¬ 
tage near Akron, Ohio; (11) cross portage to 
Cuyahoga; (12) descend Cuyahoga to (future 
site of) Cleveland on Lake Erie. Nothing more 
desperate than this trip could have been proposed; 
even the black troughs of Braddock’s Road seem 
more propitious after a review of this endless 
river voyage, involving so many weeks of labor 
against river currents. The serious proposal and 
consideration of it by so sane a man as Washing- 
124 


2°~ 22 ] AWAKENING of the west 


ton is a graphic commentary on the pioneer 
American commercial problem.* 

On September 5 Washington pushed on to 
Bath, the present Berkeley Springs, dining on the 
way at a pioneer tavern on Back Creek, 20 a Po¬ 
tomac tributary. By his will we find that Wash¬ 
ington owned 2336 acres here in Berkeley 
County, 21 including two lots at Bath. These, it 
seems, cost him about £50, together with two 
“ well-situated and handsome buildings ” costing 
about £150; this whole property he valued at 
£800, showing a good investment. But the chief 
interest attaching to his visit here centers in his 
meeting with “the ingenius M* Rumsey.” 22 It 
was fortunate and undoubtedly prearranged; f at 
least Rumsey was in full readiness to make the 
most of it. A pessimist would have called both 
men visionary, the one picturing the expanse of a 
nation beyond a grisly mass of mountains where 
hunters could hardly live and find their way 
about; the other struggling with an invention that 
should make every waterway such a bond by the 
application of a mechanical device to operate 
boats. The plans of “ Crazy Rumsey,” as he was 
known locally, were of vast importance in Wash¬ 
ington's scheme; the man was born at “ Bohemia 
Manor” in'Cecil County, Maryland, about 1743, 

* Sparks, Writings of Washington, I, 582, 585. 

t Id., IX, 105. 


125 


WASHINGTON AND THE 

being, therefore, eleven years younger than his 
illustrious patron. For some time he had been 
studying the mechanical propulsion of boats on 
the inland waters of the United States; the com¬ 
mon means then known of making craft ascend 
rivers was the method of “ poling ” them; the 
keel-boats were thus propelled; the crew walked 
along the “ running board ” as it was called, push¬ 
ing with their shoulders on poles “ set ” in the bot¬ 
tom of the stream. Following out this idea, Rum- 
sey had conceived one machine on the order of 
these “ setting poles,” a model of which he now ex¬ 
hibited in private to Washington. The machin¬ 
ery of the boat was made at the old Cotoctin Fur¬ 
nace of the Johnson Brothers,near Frederick; two 
cylinders, the boiler, pumps and pipes came from 
Baltimore. It was eighty feet long over all; the 
machinery weighed 665 pounds and the vessel 
three tons; the machinery took up only about four 
feet square of space. The exhibition occurred, it 
is said, in Sir John’s Run, a Potomac tributary, 
at night. The General approved of it and can¬ 
didly states that what he had formerly believed 
impossible was seemingly in the way of realiza¬ 
tion by Mr. Rumsey. True, Washington’s de¬ 
sire to see the project a success undoubtedly 
influenced his judgment, since it is easier to be¬ 
lieve that which one wishes to believe; Rumsey’s 
invention would mean much to the whole ship- 
126 


23 ] 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


ping world in general, but in particular it would 
revolutionize the trade on inland waters. It 
was unfitted for deep waters where sailing craft 
would still hold their own, but on such streams as 
the Potomac and Ohio the boat would prove of in¬ 
estimable value, and the simplicity of its construc¬ 
tion, Washington states, put it within reach of 
any mechanic either to make or repair in case of 
accident. The expense of carrying freight at that 
day on inland waters was tremendous, especially 
upstream; it took a crew of anywhere from four 
to ten men to handle a heavy keel-boat or “ Dur¬ 
ham ” boat; the wages and living expenses of this 
crew, the slow rate of speed attained and the com¬ 
paratively small amount of cargo that could be 
handled, sent the freight rates up to a prohibitive 
figure. With boats of Rumsey’s pattern the crew 
could be limited to two or three men, which meant 
a great saving. 

We can well believe that Washington felt that 
if the present method did not prove successful, 
Rumsey was at any rate on the right track; at 
least he seems to have offered him every encour¬ 
agement and assistance in his power. For in¬ 
stance, he gave him work in Bath on houses to be 
built, 23 as described. And, later, it will be seen, he 
called him to high position in connection with the 
improvement of the Potomac River. Washing¬ 
ton’s attitude to this struggling inventor is most 
127 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


interesting and, while comparisons may be odious, 
it is a satisfaction to note that no biographer of 
Washington can ever write, as James Parton did 
of Benjamin Franklin, “ One glory in his old age 
Franklin missed . . . that of giving effectual aid 
to this forlorn, uncouth man of genius [Fitch] in 
his costly experiments.” * Fitch and Rumsey 
were rivals in their field of invention, even to “ a 
war of pamphlets ”; both seemed on the point of 
successfully applying the power of steam to boats, 
but “it is probable enough,” writes at least one 
biographer of Fitch, “that Rumsey had enter¬ 
tained the idea of propelling a boat by steam be¬ 
fore it occurred to Fitch.”f It is impossible to 
make a categorical statement, but a query, at 
least, is not out of place: What if Fitch, who was 
to live, had met the sympathetic, influential 
Washington now in 1784, and Rumsey, whose life 
was soon over, had been the one Franklin turned 
away empty-handed and empty-hearted? It is 
difficult to tell just how much of Rumsey’s short¬ 
lived success was due to Washington; in March, 
1786, he successfully propelled a boat by steam on 
the Potomac River, on which stream Virginia 
had, in 1784, given him the exclusive rights of 
navigation for ten years, acting on Washington’s 

* Life of Benjamin Franklin (New York, 1864), II, 548-549. 

t New American Cyclopedia (New York, 1859), VII, 539. 

128 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 

advice;* in 1788 a Rumsey Society was formed 
in Philadelphia (of which Franklin was a mem¬ 
ber), as that commonwealth had given the inven¬ 
tor exclusive rights on its waters the year pre¬ 
vious; in 1792 Rumsey went to England to 
interest capitalists in his invention. In Decem¬ 
ber of that year he successfully operated a steam¬ 
boat on the Thames, but before the end of the 
month he was taken sick and died. In 1839 by 
joint act of Congress a medal was awarded to 
James Rumsey, Jr., “commemorative of his fa¬ 
ther’s services and high agency in giving to the 
world the benefit of the steamboat.” As, during 
the Revolution, Washington so greatly helped 
the inventor Bushnell, who was struggling with a 
model of a submarine boat,f so now he introduced 
Rumsey’s invention to the world. Writing soon 
to Hugh Williamson, a member of Congress, he 
said: “ ... if a model, or thing in miniature 
is a just representation of a greater object in 
practice, there is no doubt of the utility of the 
invention. A view of his model with the ex¬ 
planation removed the principal doubt I ever had 
of the practicability of propelling against a 
stream by the aid of mechanical power; but as he 
[Rumsey] wanted to avail himself of my intro¬ 
duction of it to the public attention, I chose pre- 
* Sparks, Writings of Washington, XII, 279. t Id., IX, 134-135. 

9 I29 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


[ 24-25 


viously to see the actual performance of the model 
in a descending [flowing] stream before I passed 
my certificate; and having done so, all my doubts 
were satisfied/’ * Alive to the great future he 
had made possible, Washington was intensely in¬ 
terested in all the factors which he believed would 
hasten that day of real union and prosperity. 
Rumsey was a factor in the Awakening of Amer¬ 
ica—through the patronage of Washington. 

Undoubtedly Rumsey’s experiments gave 
Washington renewed courage in his plan of a 
great waterway which should bind the West to 
the East; from one Colonel Bruce 24 here at Bath 
he learned that it was only six miles across from 
the Potomac “where McCullough’s path crosses 
it ” to the Youghiogheny River; this path, as will 
be seen,*)* crossed the Potomac at Fort Pendleton, 
West Virginia, 25 and was originally only a buffalo 
trace to the feeding-grounds in the “ Great Glades 
of the Yoh.” Bruce suggested an impossible 
route to the Little Kanawha, by way of the 
Youghiogheny, Sandy Creek (a tributary of the 
Cheat), Cheat, Monongahela rivers and Ten Mile 
Creek, a tributary of the “ West Fork ” of the lat¬ 
ter.:): Washington urged Bruce to undertake a 
survey of the country between the Potomac and 

* Sparks, Writings of Washington, IX, 105. t See Note 85. 

t As our map shows, there was no connection whatever with 
Ten Miles Creek and the Little Kanawha. See map of Wash¬ 
ington’s route. 


130 


26 ~ 291 AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


Cheat rivers, while he engaged to do the same of 
the country between the Little Kanawha and Ten 
Mile Creek. 

On September 8 the party, increased now by 
the addition of Dr. Craik’s son William 26 and 
Bushrod Washington, 27 the twenty-five-year-old 
son of Washington’s favorite brother John, de¬ 
parted westward by way of Old Town and Cum¬ 
berland, Maryland. Washington left the others 
twelve miles from Bath, near the present village 
of Little Orchard, Maryland, opposite the mouth 
of Fifteen Mile Creek, 28 for a tract of two hun¬ 
dred and forty acres of land he owned here in Vir¬ 
ginia ; “ the lower end of the land,” he writes, “ is 
rich white oak in places”; Washington was an 
experienced woodsman 29 and knew well the lost 
art of judging land by the size and character of 
the timber it produced. It was more than com¬ 
mon to say of land that it was “ rich white oak ” 
or “chestnut oak”; one of Washington’s land 
agents once wrote him of a certain tract, “The 
hills are of the poorest sort, all piney. ...” * 
To-day we go by soils, whereas when the wilder¬ 
ness was king men went by trees. The size of the 
tree was also a factor, together with its species, 
and it is difficult to believe the stories that have 
come down to us as to the size of trees in the pri¬ 
meval forests of the Middle West; Washington 

* Cf ante, pp. 26, 29. 

131 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


[30-32 


himself found a sycamore on the Ohio River in 
1770 that measured forty-four feet and ten inches 
in circumference,—and if it be admitted that he 
formerly told the truth about a cherry tree it must 
follow as the day the night that he could not speak 
falsely of any sycamore. 

Old Town, 30 where the travelers lodged and 
where Washington overtook them, was the pres¬ 
ent Old Town, Maryland, opposite Green Spring 
Station on the Baltimore and Ohio Railway; this 
is one of the few towns that has retained that 
commonest of Indian village names; whenever a 
tribe of Indians resettled a spot previously occu¬ 
pied by their Indian or Mound-building ancestors 
this name was frequently employed. Here lived 
Colonel Thomas Cresap, 31 now about as old as his 
century, far-famed throughout borderland his¬ 
tory as Indian fighter and trader and one of the 
proprietors of the Ohio Company of 1748; after 
many financial vicissitudes Colonel Cresap had 
acquired a fine property here, at what he called 
“ Skipton,” opposite the mouth of the South 
Branch (of the Potomac). But even Cresap’s re¬ 
nown could not establish the name of “ Skipton ” 
over the old Shawanese “Old Town.” Here 
Washington found a man who gave a discourag¬ 
ing account of Ten Mile Creek, 32 by which Bruce’s 
all-Virginia waterway was to pass from the Mo- 
nongahela to Little Kanawha. Little wonder 
132 


Jfounfi\of ftrtnryl 





BRADDOCK’S ROAD 


From “Fort Cumberland” to “Gist’s” was Washington’s route. The 
numbers represent Braddock’s encampments in 1755; No. 7 was near Great 
Meadows, No. xi near “ Mount Braddock,” and No. 9 at “ Dunbar’s Spring.” 
































































































































































































. 
















33 - 35 ] AWAKENING of the west 


this man was ignorant “ of the Country ” between 
T#n Mile and the Little Kanawha! * 

On the ioth the travelers were off for “old 
Fort Cumberland,” the present Cumberland, 
Maryland, 33 at which point Washington again 
left the party to follow with the baggage and pro¬ 
ceeded in advance of them to the old Gwinn 
place 34 beyond the Alleghany Mountain (see 
Washington’s map), where he dined; hastening 
onward, he lay that night at the Tomlinson 35 tav¬ 
ern at Little Meadows. Washington’s misspelling 
of the name of this pioneer family, so well known 
between the Potomac and Ohio and in the Wheel¬ 
ing neighborhood, is typical of his spelling of 
proper names throughout his diary; it is to be ex¬ 
plained on the ground of the indefiniteness of his 
information and the lack of anything approxi¬ 
mating accuracy on the part of his informers. 
One would suppose that the name of Braddock, 
for instance, was well enough known in the Alle- 
ghanies to be written and spoken correctly; yet a 
resident on Braddock’s Road, which Washington 
is now following, once described his home as on 
“broadaggs old road.”f What Washington 
called “Tumbersons” another traveler, twelve 
years later, called “ Tumblestone.” t 

* Cf. ante , p. 124, note. 

t Hulbert, Historic Highways of America, XII, 70. 

$ 1 ( 1 ., XII, 67. 


133 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


[36-40 


Leaving Tomlinson's at earliest dawn, Wash¬ 
ington forded the Youghiogheny at the present 
Little Crossings, 36 and pushed on to breakfast at 
“ one Mounts or Mountains," 37 he did not know 
which,* passing through the dark tangle of laurel 
bushes known far and wide as “the Shades 
of Death." 38 Nine miles farther on he crossed 
the larger Youghiogheny at the present Smith- 
field, Pennsylvania, 39 and rested that night at the 
tavern kept by one Daugherty, 40 just to the south 
of the present Farmington, Pennsylvania. The 
ruins of this old “ stand " on Braddock’s Road are 
plainly visible to-day in the woods to the east of 
Great Meadows. 

As I write, there falls from my note-book, kept 
while following Washington’s route back and 
forth in the Alleghanies, a flood of scarlet leaves; 
and as we picture the lonely figure of this man 
plodding his slow way through the woods on 
Braddock’s Road, the whole must be framed in a 
gorgeous red and yellow frame, the early autum¬ 
nal heritage of the Alleghany forests. But whe¬ 
ther he journeyed among sober or among flaming 
trees it is to be believed that the man’s thoughts 
ran to many subjects not hinted in the diary; 
great as the mass of Washington’s literary re¬ 
mains seems to be, consisting of so many letters, 

* This tavern is called “ Mountain Tavern or White Oak 

Springs,” by William Brown, six years later. Id., IV, 195. 

134 


41 ] 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


journals, diaries and memoranda, it is rare that 
one can find a single instance where the man 
breaks through the crust of stolid indifference of 
everything that is suggested by the words senti¬ 
ment and romance and speaks in a reminiscent 
strain. Several times in after days did this man 
visit the memorable scenes of his early life in 
which he became known to a continent and a 
world; and though he invariably kept a journal of 
these tours it is rare that one word can be found 
referring to other days. Nor is this diary of 1784 
any exception to the rule. Since entering upon 
Braddock’s Road at Cumberland, the historic 
track of so many hurrying pilgrims since the ill- 
fated Braddock passed over it to his grave, Wash¬ 
ington was on familiar ground; counting all his 
comings and goings, he had passed over Brad- 
dock's Road eight times since 1753, when he first 
fared Westward with Christopher Gist as his 
“ pilot." In those thirty-one years he had been a 
most interested spectator in the long struggle of 
the colonies in freeing themselves first from 
French absorption and then from British sover- 
eignty. And now, hero of the two wars for 
freedom, the man comes again over this worn 
pathway, and early on the morning of September 
12 he rides through the heavy fog into Great 
Meadows, 41 the one bright, sunny spot in a hun¬ 
dred miles of mountain. As was most proper, 
135 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


[42 


Washington had purchased the two hundred and 
thirty-seven acres* here 42 on which he had 
fought his first battle from within his “ fort ”— a 
doggedly argued affair against hopeless odds, his 
poor handful of men crouching all day in dripping 
trenches, empty of food (because there was none) 
and full of liquor. It was in the eternal fitness of 
things that this man should own the spot of 
ground where he had had his first lesson in com¬ 
manding half-clad, hungry men in the noblest 
cause in which a musket or hot, barking swivel 
ever spoke. But that was thirty years ago; then 
the tall young lad spoke of the Meadows exuber¬ 
antly as a “ charming field for an encounter ”; at 
the same time, it will be remembered, he wrote 
that the flying bullets at the attack on Jumon- 
ville’s “embassy” had a “charming sound 
when asked later in life if he had uttered the 
words he said that, if so, it was “when he was 
very young.” So, in the present case, these thirty 
taxing years on top of the twenty youthful ones 
has brought a vast change and Great Meadows, 
from being a “ charming field for an encounter,” 
was merely “ capable of being turned to great ad¬ 
vantage ... & the upland, East of the Meadow, 
is good for grain”! Indeed, in Washington’s 
record of this his last tour over Braddock’s Road 


* Butterfield, The Washington-Crawford Letters, 16. 
See ante, p. io. 

136 



Plat of Washington’s farm in Great Meadows, near 
Farmington, Pennsylvania 





WASHINGTON AND THE 


the reader will search in vain for one word that 
will hint that Washington had ever been over the 
Alleghanies before! Such was the man. 

I care not how widely you may have traveled, 
you have missed a peculiar pleasure if you have 
not climbed Laurel Hill, the last range of the Alle¬ 
ghany ranges westward, and visited Dunbar’s 
Camp, Braddock’s Grave and Great Meadows. It 
is, physically, a tiresome trip, but a day in the 
Alleghanies is as a generation in the rushing 
world without; and on one of those glittering au¬ 
tumn days, the air like wine, you feel that the 
forests which flank Great Meadows to-day speak 
continuously of that somber past. The sounds of 
trampling feet, the crack of the rifles and the bay¬ 
ing of the angry swivels, the groans and battle- 
cries seem to have died away only a moment or 
two ago. You look quickly now and then through 
the vista of flaming trees and feel that one of 
Washington’s ragged, red Virginians has just 
passed over the brow of the knoll beyond; the 
leaves still stir in his wake. And then, as a climax 
to your day-dream, you fall upon the remains of 
Braddock’s Road, that strange broad track that 
was the first artery between the East and the 
West. Remember it not as the route of an army 
of soldiers but rather as the path of that army of 
pioneers with axes on their shoulders — axes that 
should sing a truer tune than ever a musket 
crooned. None of all the millions who passed this 

138 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


way to that West, of which Washington was the 
first prophet and first promoter, ever dreamed of 
leaving a monument here; but those very feet, 
tired and often bleeding, have left a memorial 
which storm nor frost are able to erase. A mil¬ 
lennium of years will not obliterate this track of 
hunters, explorers, missionaries, armies and host 
of pioneers; and as the dreams and hopes and 
fears and visions of that phantom host were price¬ 
less to the cause of liberty in this land, so that 
track made by their hurrying feet will ever be 
dear to all who, like them, hold that liberty to be 
a precious thing. “ There are no Alleghanies in 
my politics/' said the great expounder of the Con¬ 
stitution;* this was the mission of Braddock's 
Road and the key-note of Washington's policy 
through forty years. All Europe trembled when 
the fourteenth Louis said to his grandson, whom 
he had made King of Spain, “ There are no longer 
any Pyrenees "; this was the burden of the song 
sung by the axes that hewed Braddock's Road— 
“ there are no longer any Alleghanies "; and the 
continent trembled, not for fear, truly, but under 
the feet of millions who made it possible for a 
company of united States to live. Washington 
now sought only to annihilate the Alleghanies 
more effectively than Braddock's Road had done, 
by a better means of communication. 

The last years of the Revolution had been par- 

* The Works of Daniel Webster (Boston, 1858), IV, 250. 

139 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


[43-46 


ticularly bloody years in the West, Crawford’s 
defeat in Ohio and the Battle of Blue Licks in 
Kentucky quite reaching the high-water mark of 
savage gluttony. Now in 1784 the great immi¬ 
gration which should never be stopped had just 
begun; of this Washington saw signs as he 
pushed on by Great Meadows, Braddock’s Grave, 
Jumonville’s Grave and Dunbar’s Spring to the 
old Gist homestead on the present Mount Brad- 
dock, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, 43 where the 
old pioneer Christopher Gist had settled more 
than thirty years back, and where the third son, 
Thomas, now lived at the old spring-site; twelve 
miles further on, on the present site of Perryopo- 
lis, was the home of Gilbert Simpson 44 on Wash¬ 
ington’s twelve-hundred-acre tract at this point on 
the Youghiogheny River.* Here Washington 
arrived at five in the evening of September 12. 
During the last day or two he met a large number 
of traders 45 on Braddock’s Road and he missed 
no opportunity of asking them concerning the 
navigation problem. He learned again that Ten- 
Mile Creek was absolutely impassable and did not 
lead anywhere near the Little Kanawha, 46 and, 
what was far more discouraging, that the line 
(Mason and Dixon’s) just now surveyed between 
Pennsylvania and Virginia crossed the Cheat 

*This tract was sold before the making of Washington’s will; 
therefore it is not mentioned in our summary, ante, pp. II, 12. 

140 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


River several miles above the junction of the 
Cheat and Monongahela at the present town of 
Point Marion in West Virginia 47 —which de¬ 
prived Virginia of the control of that stream as 
she was deprived of the control of the Youghio- 
gheny. It was clear, now, that the hope of an all- 
Virginian route from the Potomac to the Ohio was 
futile, so far as the plans heretofore proposed 
were concerned. The use of either of the rivers 
Youghiogheny or Cheat necessitated the coopera¬ 
tion of Pennsylvania with Virginia in order to 
achieve success, even if the canalization of them, 
which seemed doubtful from the traders’ reports, 
was possible. 

Two courses of action were now open; and 
while Washington was now engrossed for some 
days in private affairs he did not forget this 
greater project which he believed meant much 
good for his country. However, the prosecution 
of his journey to the Great Kanawha seemed im¬ 
possible, for, from the traders’ reports, the Indians 
were hostile, because of efforts at surveying 
northwest of the Ohio River, the treaty of Fort 
McIntosh 48 not being held until two years later.* 

On the day after his arrival Washington vis¬ 
ited his old mill on what is now Washington’s 

* A treaty between the United States, represented by Arthur 
Lee, Richard Butler and George Rogers Clark, and the Wyan- 
dots, Chippewas, Delawares and Ottawas. Thwaites, Withers's 
Chronicles of Border Warfare, 366. 

141 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


Run, three fourths of a mile from the Youghio- 
gheny River. 49 This was one of the first mills 
built west of the Alleghanies, the millstones being 
dug out of native quarries and the builders living 
in a blockhouse while at work upon it in 1774-75. 
Portions of the original structure remain in the 
present mill and it is known far and wide by the 
old name. The water-power, which is relied upon 
only in wet seasons, still follows the ancient race 
of Revolutionary days and the reconstructed dam 
stands on the site of the old one. It is all a mon¬ 
ument to Washington and speaks to the visitor 
in a way that the Washington monument never 
can; it is a memorial of this unknown Washing¬ 
ton who was dreaming of a new America. The 
improvements on Washington's plantation here, 
overseers' quarters (Simpson's where Washing¬ 
ton lodged), slaves' quarters, etc., were situate 
near Plant No. 2 of the Washington Coal and 
Coke Company, which sends out calendars each 
year bearing a picture of Washington’s Mill. 
While Washington examined with care the coal 
outcroppings near here in 1770,* it is sure the 
man never dreamed that the land he purchased, 
with some contiguous territory, would be valued 
in a century at above twenty million dollars. In 

* On the Crawford place, twelve miles up the Youghiogheny 
from Perryopolis, at the present New Haven (Pa.). See Wash¬ 
ington’s Tour of 1770, entries of October 13-15. 

I42 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


view of its enormous value it is doubly interesting 
to know that Washington was its first owner and 
that he found coal hereabouts nearly a century 
and a half ago. 

Washington’s coming had no doubt been noised 
abroad in connection with the public sale, and 
visitors were soon on hand to welcome him; par¬ 
ticularly Colonel William Butler, 50 from the old 
Butler homestead, a little above the present vil¬ 
lage of Glenwood on the Monongahela, and Cap¬ 
tain Lucket, 51 commanding the Fort Pitt garrison. 
But there were more picturesque, important visi¬ 
tors than these — an odd delegation of the rough 
frontiersmen 52 who had squatted on the rich piece 
of land which Crawford had secured (he sup¬ 
posed) for Washington in Washington County, 
Pennsylvania, in 1767. They not only had heard 
of the sale but doubtless were informed that, when 
General Washington came, steps were to be taken 
to oust them from the homes they had built and in 
which they had lived, now, for eleven years. 

It is one of the most entertaining features of 
this diary that it presents so clearly to our view 
this inside history of Washington’s speculation in 
western Pennsylvania; he has been presented in 
many lights, but never perhaps as a plaintiff in a 
suit to dispossess a dozen or two people from their 
little farms and cabins; yet such he now becomes, 
and this delegation has come to Simpson’s to in- 
143 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


terview him and find out a good scheme of de¬ 
fense. A great deal has been written of the bitter 
contests waged in the West for titles to farms, 
squatter rights and tomahawk claims. Here we 
have a specific instance of one of these disputes, 
and, fortunately, the prominence of the plaintiff 
was such that all of the important facts of the case 
have been preserved, though never before given 
to the public. 

As early as 1767 Washington wrote, as we 
have seen, to his old friend William Crawford, 
asking him to pick out some good tracts of land 
for Washington in the neighborhood of Pitts¬ 
burgh. Washington, on his part, declared that he 
would find means to secure a clear title to any 
such lands. On September 27, 1767, Crawford 
wrote him that he had “ pitched upon a fine piece 
of land on a stream called Chartiers Creek.” * 
Here Crawford surveyed and marked by blazed 
trees as fine a piece of land as can be found in 
rich Washington County, about three thousand 
acres in all. He soon built a cabin and cleared a 
patch of ground. This was an “ improvement.” 
The only persons who could rightfully hold land 
in the West were the “ old veterans ” of the French 
and Indian War, who had been promised by the 
Virginian Governor (1754) and the King of 
England (1763) some two hundred thousand 

* Butterfield, Washington-Crawford Letters, 6. 

144 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 

acres of the land in the West for which they had 
fought and which they had conquered. As com¬ 
mander of the Fort Necessity campaign Wash¬ 
ington had become possessed of a large tract of 
land which he expected to take en bloc ; for such 
a tract as that secured by Crawford, Washington 
would find a soldier’s claim which he could secure. 
This he soon obtained from one Captain John 
Posey, who had been a captain in the Second Vir¬ 
ginia Regiment in the Fort Necessity campaign 
and who had a good claim to three thousand acres 
of the two hundred thousand. On the 14th of 
October, 1770, Posey gave George Washington 
what was called his “ Bond ” in the sum of £2000 
conditioned for the conveyance to Washington of 
his right under said claim whenever the same 
should be demanded. This bond stated that “ for 
a certain sum agreed upon . . . [Posey] hath 
bargained and sold the same [claim] to the said 
George Washington. . . .” The “Bond” was 
“Sealed & delivered In the presence of John 
Parke Custis Martha Parke Custis Amelia 
Posey.” This probably occurred at Mount Ver¬ 
non. In the year following Crawford was ap¬ 
pointed deputy-surveyor of Augusta County, 
Virginia (which then was claimed to embrace 
the present Washington County, Pennsylvania), 
under Thomas Lewis, the surveyor of Augusta 
County, Virginia, who married Washington’s 
10 145 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


friend and schoolmate Jane Strother. He then 
resurveyed 2813 acres within the boundaries pre¬ 
viously marked for Washington, and the “ re¬ 
turn ” was forwarded by Lewis to Virginia; in 
1774 Governor Dinwiddie granted Washington a 
patent for the land. This patent made Washing¬ 
ton actual owner of the land so far as a Virginia 
title could make him so. 

A year or so before the patent was issued, a 
number of squatters settled within these boun¬ 
daries which had been marked, surveyed and 
resurveyed by Crawford. Six men comprised the 
party, and, before discovered, they had built a 
cabin, and cleared two or three acres of land. 
Crawford immediately ordered them off, and, on 
being paid £5, in lieu of the improvement they had 
made, they moved away. Land-seekers were now 
becoming so numerous that Crawford was com¬ 
pelled to place a man on Washington's land who 
built a cabin and eked out a living at his patron's 
expense. A circumstance which made it more 
difficult to keep the land from interlopers was 
what is known as Croghan's Deed, a deed given 
by the Six Nations to Colonel George Croghan, 
the noted Indian trader and deputy Indian agent 
under Sir William Johnson, and other traders 
(who had lost property by Indian depredations), 
to two hundred thousand acres of land on the 
upper Ohio. The Deed was never approved by 
146 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 

the King and was never legal, but Colonel Cro- 
ghan “ ran ” his lines and sold many “ locations” 
to immigrants. Crawford shrewdly found this 
piece of good land for Washington and outwitted 
and antagonized the Croghan speculators; * and 
so when, in 1773, a number of men of sturdy 
Scotch-Irish descent appeared upon the scene 
from Chester County, Pennsylvania, and else¬ 
where, they were encouraged to settle on Wash¬ 
ington’s land by the Croghan element in Pitts¬ 
burgh ; perhaps they verily believed Croghan was 
a fraud who advertised the fact that he was 
securing land for Washington merely in order to 
attract attention; at any rate they came boldly 
and drove Washington’s hired servant away by 
force, “encouraged by Major Ward,” wrote 
Crawford to Washington, “brother to Colonel 
Croghan.” f This was just before Christmas, 
1773. Crawford went immediately to them with 
the same warning he had brought their predeces¬ 
sors; he found them determined to stay and he 
wrote that he had “ built a house so close to his 
[the keeper’s] that he cannot get in at the door.” 
Dunmore’s War now broke out and the Revolu¬ 
tion followed. Throughout those trying years 
the doughty Scotch-Irish clung to their little cab¬ 
ins and few acres with all the tenacity of their 
race. The Indians could not drive them off; now 

* Butterfield, The Washington-Crawford Letters, 19. t Id., 37- 

147 


WASHINGTON AND THE 

the question was, Could Washington make good 
his title ? 

No doubt they discussed this question as they 
trudged over the hills to Simpson’s, wondering 
if the great General whose fame had spread so 
wide could and really would dispossess them of 
the homes and land they had called theirs for al¬ 
most half a generation. They were above the av¬ 
erage of frontiersmen; writes Hon. Boyd Crum- 
rine: * “ There were some sturdy men among 
these settlers, men of positive mind, stubborn for 
their own rights as they understood them. They 
were not disposed easily to yield their hard-won 
homes even to the great General who had liber¬ 
ated America.” There was, truly, something to 
be said on both sides, and the fact that the entire 
body of them were of one religious opinion and 
known as Seceders (the Associate Church of 
Scotland) had a moral influence in the matter not 
to be wholly disregarded. And then they had 
stood their ground through all the bitter, black 

*Mr. Crumrine, a distinguished lawyer of Washington, Penn¬ 
sylvania, and president of the Washington County Historical So¬ 
ciety, has made a special study of Washington’s land-suit and 
gathered copies of all the original documents in the case which 
he will edit and publish; the most interesting and important of 
these documents is the Washington-Smith Correspondence, to be 
referred to later. Mr. Crumrine has kindly allowed the present 
writer the complete run of his material. 

148 


531 AWAKENING OF THE WEST 

days of Dunmore’s War and the Revolution, and 
no doubt had contributed men and substance to 
the cause of preserving the West to the Union. 
They had seized, rather forcefully it must be ad¬ 
mitted, upon the land they claimed, but were fol¬ 
lowing what they understood was good advice. 
They looked upon Crawford as an impostor, and 
doubtless honestly believed that he was merely 
using Washington’s name as a cloak to cover 
safely a private venture. The West was full of 
such land jobbers as that; Crawford had probably 
told them that Croghan’s claim to land was 
as groundless as Croghan told them Crawford’s 
was. Who knew the truth? Who was to be 
believed ? 

We do not know the exact conversation which 
now passed between the leaders of these Seceders 
and General Washington. It is clear from Wash¬ 
ington’s remark that the salient points of the 
question were touched—probably the important 
fact that they settled the land previous to the 
date 53 of the Governor’s patent which made 
Washington the actual owner. He undoubtedly 
demanded that they leave the land or purchase it 
from him at a fair figure. All the Seceders not 
being present, a decision was necessarily post¬ 
poned until Washington should see the land and 
estimate its value. As the men trudged off home- 
149 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


[54-58 


ward that night they talked of the man they had 
seen, of his dress and manner, of all he had done, 
of his answers to their spokesman’s questions, and 
of the probable price he would set on the land. 
It was sure they would either buy or fight the mat¬ 
ter in the courts. 

On the day following, September 15, the sale 
which had been advertised was held 54 ; the mill 
could not find a renter and the plantation—now 
worth a score of millions—rented for 500 bushels 
of wheat per annum! Washington spent two 
days more at Crawford’s, where Colonel Thomas 
Freeman 55 was engaged as Washington’s land 
agent in the West for the future.* 

On the eighteenth Washington set out with Dr. 
Craik for the homes of his obdurate Seceders on 
“ Shurtees Creek,” as he calls Chartiers Creek, 56 
and crossed the Monongahela River at “De- 
boirs,” more correctly Devore’s 57 Ferry, now 
Monongahela City, Pennsylvania. Local tradi¬ 
tion affirms that Devore was the name of a Hes¬ 
sian soldier who operated a ferry later known 
as Parkinson’s Ferry. The travelers “bated” at 
David Hamilton’s, 58 for many years justice of 
the peace in Washington County, at his home on 
“ Ginger Hill ” on the present National Road, and 

* His full directions to Freeman were outlined in a letter 
written September 23, 1785. Sparks, Writings of Washington, 

XII, 275 . 

150 


59 ^ 2] AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


lodged that night at Colonel John Cannon’s, 59 one 
of the justices of the Virginia courts, who laid out 
the present Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, in April, 
1788. Washington only mentions the home of 
Colonel Edward Cook, 60 one of the important men 
of western Pennsylvania of that date, who lived 
at the present site of Fayette City, Fayette 
County, previously known as Cooksto\yn, and, be¬ 
fore that, Freeport. Colonel Cook was a member 
of the famous “Carpenter’s Hall,” Provincial 
Congress, which promulgated the Declaration of 
Independence, a member of the Pennsylvania 
Convention of 1776, and County Lieutenant for 
Westmoreland (which then included Fayette) 
County. Had his record as a staunch Pennsyl¬ 
vanian been shorter Washington’s notice of him 
would have been longer! 

From Colonel Cannon’s it was but a short ride 
to the lands on Miller’s Run, but the next day 
being Sunday, Washington postpones a visit be¬ 
cause of the alleged religious scruples 61 of his 
tenants, at which he frankly sneers, with little 
credit to himself. He spends the day in a fruit¬ 
less business journey to the home of one Dr. 
Ezekiel Johnson, 62 a few miles northeast of 
Washington, Pennsylvania, in search of records, 
which he does not find. Washington here shows 
little or no respect for the Sabbath day; it may be 
said that while traveling on the frontier the cir- 
I5i 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


[63-64 


cumstances warranted one’s moving on apace, 
bad weather rendering the roads so impassable 
that it was the better part of caution to travel 
in good weather irrespective of the day. The 
Scotch-Irish tenants would not have traveled to¬ 
day, nor did many a brave explorer like Dr. 
Thomas Walker, though none but the horses and 
dogs and wilderness knew of the act of reverence 
for the day.* 

On Monday Washington proceeded to the 
lands in question and found that out of the 2813 
acres patented by him, only 363 acres were arable 
and forty more were “meadow”; there were 
twelve houses and nine barns claimed by four¬ 
teen persons 63 : Samuel McBride, James Mc¬ 
Bride, Thomas Biggart (Bigar?), William Stew¬ 
art, Matthew Hillast (Halet ?), Brice McGeechen, 
Duncan McGeechen, David Reed, John Reed, 
WilliamHillas (Willis?), John Glen, James Scott, 
Matthew Johnson, and James Scott, Jr. The last 
mentioned, 64 who, with his father, was owner of 
the best of the farms, was the ringleader of the 
pioneers; with Reed he argued their side of the 
question at the Reed home, where Washington 
dined. “ During his stay,” writes an historian of 
Washington County, “the mother of James Reed 

*“ Journal of Doctor Thomas Walker,” J. Stoddard Johnston, 
First Explorations of Kentucky, 35, note 4. Sparks has an in¬ 
teresting chapter on Washington’s religious principles in Writings 
of Washington, XII, 399. 


152 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 

(silversmith, formerly of this place) cooked a din¬ 
ner . . . for the General. . . .” * Here at Reed’s 
Washington stated his terms, after hearing the 
Seceders’ pitiful story, half of which, one may be¬ 
lieve, was exaggeration. All the tenants refused 
the terms offered, and agreed severally to stand 
suit and abide the decision of law. Ordinarily 
such quarrels over “ tomahawk claims ” were set¬ 
tled “ out of court,” usually on the ground in ques¬ 
tion with the silence of the surrounding forest as 
the only witness. The strongest man won — or, 
perhaps, the craftiest. “As soon as a man’s 
back is turned,” Washington’s own agent once 
wrote him, “ another is on his land. The man that 
is strong and able to make others afraid of him 
seems to have the best chance as times go now.” 

But Washington could not employ arbitrary 
force in the present instance, and he would not 
if he could. His dignity demanded that the pious 
interlopers receive the benefit of the bench and 
bar. In all his Western speculations Washington 
had been particular to insist that his agents avoid 
even the possibility of conflict with others. For 
instance, when Captain Bullitt and party were 
making the early surveys at Louisville and on 
the Kentucky River in 1775, Washington desired 

* Alfred Creigh, LL.D., History of Washington County (Har- 
risburgh, 1871), 101. The place referred to is Washington, the 
county-seat. 


153 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


“to get in on the ground floor”; and, while no 
one in America, save only the veterans of the 
campaign of 1754, had any semblance of legal 
right to Western land, yet Washington wrote 
his agent to avoid any possible conflict even with 
those who had no right to lands; “ . . . but even 
of these [illegal] claims,” he wrote, “if I could 
get lands equally as good . . . elsewhere, I should 
choose to steer clear.” * In his treatment of his 
large tenantry Washington was also most con¬ 
siderate; writing to his new agent, Freeman, a 
few months later, he said: “Where acts of Provi¬ 
dence interfere to disable a tenant, I would be 
lenient in the exaction of rent; but, where the 
cases are otherwise, I will not be put off; because 
it is on these my own expenditures depend, and 
because an accumulation of undischarged rents is 
a real injury to the tenant.” f 

In the present instance Washington’s agent 
had chosen the Miller’s Run lands before the 
Seceders ever saw it, and the steps to be taken 
to secure properly the land were in a forward 
way when they arrived on the scene and drove 
off the man stationed as guard. The question 
was, Must Washington lose his land because of 
the arrival of the squatters before enough time 
had elapsed for him to secure a patent to the 
land? This he could not believe; if these men 

* Butterfield, Washington-Crawford Letters, 31. f Id., 31. 

154 


65-681 AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


succeeded in wheedling him in this instance, there 
was little chance of his holding securely a single 
one of his forty thousand acres in the West; to 
be “ lenient ” here, as he was, no doubt, im¬ 
plored to be, would certainly result in the 
establishment of a precedent that would be ruin¬ 
ous to him; and if Washington could not keep 
his land how would the less influential and 
less powerful fare? The precedent would ruin 
thousands. 

Such, no doubt, was the trend of the conversa¬ 
tion of the members of Washington’s party while 
returning to Colonel Cannon’s; in it was Colonel 
John Neville 65 of the Virginia Line, Captain Van 
Swearinger, 66 “Indian Van” as he was known, 
commander of one of the companies in Morgan’s 
famous rifle-corps from the backwoods, and now 
first sheriff of Washington County, and either 
Captain Craig Richie or Captain Matthew 
Richie, 67 both of them being prominent residents 
of this county. These friends probably agreed 
that indeed “ squatter ” rights did take precedence 
over Governor’s patents if Washington must be 
compelled to submit to the interlopers, or if they 
could make good their claim in court. All agreed 
to assist the General in the prosecution of the 
ejectment suit. At Beason Town, 68 the present 
Uniontown, Pennsylvania, whither Washington 
went on September 22, he engaged Mr. Thomas 
155 


WASHINGTON AND THE [69 - 72 

Smith 69 of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, to prosecute 
his suit. 

Here at Uniontown Captain Benjamin Hardin 70 
gave the General a hopeful account of the passage¬ 
way from the West Fork of the Monongahela * to 
the Little Kanawha; he also affirmed that the 
Cheat was navigable to Dunkards Bottom and 
that a road was already marked out from that 
point across the mountains to the Potomac. The 
information came in time to make Washington 
change his decision to return the way he had 
come; here and now he determined to send his 
baggage and friends homeward by the common 
route, and he himself strike straight into the wil¬ 
derness of the upper Monongahela, of which all 
men seemed so ignorant. He accordingly sent 
Dr. Craik and son homeward with the baggage 
by the Turkey-foot Road, 71 which ascended the 
Youghiogheny River, to meet him at the end of 
the month at Warner Washington's, near “ Happy 
Retreat ” in Virginia. Washington with his 
nephew Bushrod and Colonel Theophilus Phil¬ 
lips 72 set out for the latter's home near the present 
Point Marion, Pennsylvania; this home was an 
early landmark; in it the Monongahela County 
Court had been held. 

* Hardin here corrects Colonel Bruce’s misinformation; it was 
the West Fork and not Ten Mile Creek that headed near the 
Little Kanawha. 

156 


73 - 741 AWAKENING OF THE WEST 

As Washington now notes in his diary (prob¬ 
ably a hint from Lawyer Smith), the validity of 
the Posey bond 73 and the date of one of Surveyor 
Lewis’s returns on which patent was issued and 
the meaning of one of Crawford’s letters,* were 
important items 74 in the controversy. In due time 
the case came on for “tryal,” at the November 
(1784) term of the Common Pleas Court, but was 
removed by Lawyer Smith to the Supreme Court, 
and tried before Thomas McKean and Jacob 
Rush, Justices of the Supreme Court holding nisi 
prius court at Washington, Pennsylvania, October 
25, 26, and 27, 1786. Smith thus gives his rea¬ 
son for removing the case :f “ I had good informa¬ 
tion that James Scott Junr had the most plausible 
claim & that he was the ringleader or director 
of the rest I therefore Resolved to take the Bull by 
the Horns, and removed the Ejectments into the 
Supreme Court in Such order as to have it in my 

* Butterfield, Washington-Crawford Letters, 61. 

t The interesting Washington-Smith Correspondence, collected 
and owned by C. B. Humrich of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and 
loaned by him to the Museum of the Pennsylvania Bar Asso¬ 
ciation, comprises many of the letters which passed between 
Washington and his lawyer respecting the ejectment suit, and 
many pages of memoranda in Washington’s handwriting; the 
latter is practically a lawyer’s “ brief ” of the case and, in the 
able opinion of Mr. Crumrine, marks Washington as a man of 
unexpected legal ability; his grasp of the whole matter, and es¬ 
pecially his suggestions of the positions to be taken by the de¬ 
fendants, is masterly. Mr. Crumrine kindly placed his copy of 
this correspondence in the present editor’s hands. 

157 


WASHINGTON AND THE 

power to try the ejectment against him before the 
rest. . . . The trial therefore was ordered on, on 
the 24th after Dinner & lasted that afternoon the 
next Day and till 11 oclock in the forenoon of the 
26th when the Jury gave a verdict for the plain¬ 
tiff.” Smith warned Washington that, in case he 
won his suit, there was no damage that could be 
handily done to the property which the “ pious ” 
Seceders would not do, a threat a trifle out of ac¬ 
cord with their alleged piety; “ fences & even the 
Buildings,” he wrote, “ will probably be burned or 
otherwise destroyed.” In one of Washington’s 
notes for Smith’s perusal he writes these interest¬ 
ing and almost pathetic sentences: “ The charac¬ 
ter, & general conduct of Capt? Crawford must 
speak for themselves,— and these, I conceive, 
will bear the test of examination.— If he was 
a forestaller or monopolizer of Land, it is un¬ 
known to me.— I had no hand in the speculation. 
— nor have I a foot of Land in the Western Coun¬ 
try that I do not hold under Military rights, ex¬ 
cept the tract on [the] Youghiogheny whereon 
Gilbert Simpson lives, and a small tract of be¬ 
tween two & 300 acres at the Great Meadows; 
both of which I purchased. . . . Indeed, com¬ 
paratively speaking I possess very little land on 
the Western Waters.— to attempt therefore to 
deprive me of the little I have, is, considering the 
circumstances under which I have been, and the 

158 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


inability of attending to my own affairs, not only 
unjust, but pitifully mean.” * 

On June i, 1796, Washington sold this tract to 
Matthew Richie for $12,000, of which $3180 was 
in cash and $8820 to be paid in three annual in¬ 
stalments. Richie died in 1798, leaving two pay¬ 
ments due, willing the land to Judge Alexander 
Addison on condition that he pay the remainder. 
This Judge Addison did not do, for in 1802 the 
tract was sold at sheriff’s sale on Richie’s mort¬ 
gage held by Washington’s heirs. Judge Addi¬ 
son was purchaser for $60, which was enough to 
pay the costs; the Judge and his widow sold the 
land to eight persons, John Johnson being the 
largest buyer. 

In the late afternoon of September 23, Wash¬ 
ington reached the home of Colonel Phillips. He 
now leaves the historic region with which he was 
so familiar and strikes out into an unknown coun¬ 
try. As he does so it is quite proper to emphasize 
again the significant fact that throughout his 
journey from Cumberland to Simpson’s on the 
Youghiogheny River, through scenes as memor¬ 
able as any on this continent that shall be forever 
linked with his name, we find not one single word 
in his diary of recollection or reminiscence. Fort 
Cumberland, Little Crossing, Great Crossing, 
Great Meadows, Fort Necessity, Braddock’s 

* MSS. Washington-Smith Correspondence, 9. 

159 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


[75-76 


Grave and the orchard where he died, Jumonville’s 
hiding-place, Dunbar’s Camp, Mount Braddock 
and Stewart’s Crossing receive not one syllable of 
recognition. It is a legend that at his home board 
Washington sanctioned no references to his past 
exploits; writing now, later in life, he certainly 
refrained in a remarkable way from any refer¬ 
ences to those boyhood days; the diffidence seems 
to the present editor intentionally studied. Either 
now or on the occasion of his visit in 1770 Wash¬ 
ington attempted to find Braddock’s grave; how 
interesting it would have been if he could have 
left in one of the two journals some little account 
of this inherently romantic delay! It is the ab¬ 
sence of every such personal mention that gives 
ground for the assertion that Washington’s jour¬ 
nals are “ uninteresting.” 

On the morning of the twenty-fourth the party, 
including their host, pushed on to the Cheat at its 
junction with the Monongahela at the present vil¬ 
lage of Point Marion. 75 The General’s quick eye 
noted the peculiar glittering waters of the Cheat, 
correctly attributing it to the “Laurel, among 
which it rises.” If you ask to-day along its banks 
the reason of this color 76 you may be told, as the 
writer was, that it is due to the saw-mills; there 
were few saw-mills on the Cheat in 1784! A more 
knowing resident will say that the iron in the 
water and the tan in the laurel makes an ink 
160 


77 " 791 AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


which colors the otherwise limpid stream. Fol¬ 
lowing the dividing ridge between the rivers, the 
home of John Pierpont, grandfather of Francis 
H. Pierpont, War Governor of West Virginia, 77 
was reached, the site of which will be pointed out 
to the visitor near the present Pierpont M. E. 
Church, distant four miles from Morgantown, 
West Virginia, and four miles from Mount Cha¬ 
teau, the Cheat River resort. At the surveyor’s 
office Washington did not find the records desired, 
save those of lands at the mouth of the Little 
Kanawha secured by Rutherford and Briscoe, 
names well known in Wood County and Parkers¬ 
burg. 78 

When Washington brought up the inland navi¬ 
gation problem, Hanway sent to Morgantown for 
General Zackwell Morgan, 79 the founder of the 
city which bears his name. From him Washing¬ 
ton learned that there were three routes eastward 
to the Potomac through the rugged region 
watered by the upper Cheat and Youghiogheny 
rivers; one was the “New Road” running from 
Morgantown through the Sandy Creek Glades to 
Braddock’s Road, which it entered a mile west of 
Jockey Hollow; another branched from the New 
Road in Sandy Creek Glades and following 
McCullough’s Path came to the North Branch at 
what is Fort Pendleton; the third ran from the 
neighborhood of the present Clarksburg, crossed 

11 161 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


[80 


the Cheat at Dunkard’s Bottom, one of the earli¬ 
est clearings west of the Alleghanies made by a 
family of that name, and also crossed the Potomac 
at Fort Pendleton. All these paths were deer and 
buffalo trails to and from the splendid feeding 
grounds in the Glades; the first pioneers found 
them roads ready to their feet leading into the 
Glades from the East and out of them again 
toward what became “ Morgan Town” and 
“ Clarkstown,” fifteen miles below the portage to 
the present Bullstown 80 on the Little Kanawha. 
The navigation of the Cheat below Horseshoe 
Bottom was reported adversely; and the only hope 
of an all-Virginia route from the Potomac to the 
Little Kanawha was to be secured by improving 
one of these roads through the Glades to Fort 
Pendleton — the one through Sandy Creek Glades 
or the one through Dunkard’s Bottom. 

Here at the Pierpont home occurred that fa¬ 
mous interview between the youthful Albert Gal¬ 
latin and Washington, to which the former fre¬ 
quently referred in after life. We have deferred 
reference to it till now in order that the picture 
that Washington so dimly draws may stand com¬ 
plete before this most interesting side-light is 
thrown upon it. Born in 1761, Gallatin came to 
America in 1780; during 1782 he was instructor 
in French at Harvard College, and early in 1784 
came westward to lands he had purchased near 
162 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


Washington’s in Pennsylvania, at the mouth of 
George’s Creek, of which mention is made in the 
diary. It is likely that Gallatin was visiting the 
surveyor with reference to his lands, though on 
this point we are not made clear by his biog¬ 
raphers. “The story of the interview,” writes 
one of them, Stevens, “was first made public by 
Mr. John Russell Bartlett, who had it from the 
lips of Mr. Gallatin. The version of the late Hon. 
William Beach Lawrence . . . differs slightly in 
immaterial points. Mr. Lawrence says: 

Among the incidents connected with his (Mr. 
Gallatin’s) earliest explorations was an inter¬ 
view with General Washington, which he repeat¬ 
edly recounted to me. He had previously ob¬ 
served that of all the inaccessible men he had ever 
seen, General Washington was the most so. And 
this remark he made late in life, after having been 
conversant with most of the sovereigns of Europe 
and their prime ministers. He said, in connec¬ 
tion with his office, he had a cot-bed in the office of 
the surveyor of the district when Washington, 
who had lands in the neighborhood, and was de¬ 
sirous of effecting communication between the 
rivers, came there. Mr. Gallatin’s bed was given 
up to him,— Gallatin lying on the floor, imme¬ 
diately below the table at which Washington was 
writing [in his diary]. Washington was endea¬ 
voring to reduce to paper the calculations of the 
163 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


day. Gallatin, hearing the statement, came at 
once to the conclusion, and, after waiting some 
time, he himself gave the answer, which drew 
from Washington such a look [of rebuke] as he 
never experienced before or since. On arriving 
by a slow process at his conclusion, Washington 
turned to Gallatin and said/'You are right, young 
man.” Bartlett, in his recollection of the anec¬ 
dote, adds that Washington, about this period, in¬ 
quired after the forward young man, and urged 
him to become his land agent,— an offer which 
Gallatin declined/ ” * 

This version of Gallatin’s story, looked at from 
the standpoint of Washington’s diary is fairly well 
authenticated. There can be no doubt that it was 
at Pierpont’s that the interview occurred, though 
as Freeman had been offered the position of land 
agent it is difficult to harmonize the detail of the 
story with Washington’s record. Another ver¬ 
sion of the story is given by Henry Adams, who 
says: "Mr. Gallatin said he first met General 
Washington at the office of a land agent near the 
Kenawha River, in northwestern Virginia, where 
he [Gallatin] had been engaged in surveying. 
The office consisted of a log house fourteen feet 
square, in which was but one room. . . Many of 
the settlers and hunters familiar with the country 
had been invited to meet the general. . . . On 

*John Austin Stevens, Albert Gallatin (Boston, 1884), 22-24. 

164 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


his arrival General Washington took his seat at 
a pine table in the log cabin, or rather land 
agent's office, surrounded by the men who had 
come to meet him. They all stood up, as there 
was no room for seats. Some of the more for¬ 
tunate, however, secured quarters on the bed. 
. . . Mr. Gallatin stood among the others in the 
crowd, though quite near the table, and listened 
attentively to the numerous queries put by the 
general, and very soon discovered from the vari¬ 
ous relations [accounts] which was the only prac¬ 
ticable pass through which the road could be 
made. He felt uneasy at the indecision of the 
general, when the point was so evident to him, 
and without reflecting on the impropriety of it, 
suddenly interrupted him, saying, ‘ Oh, it is plain 
enough, such a place [a spot just mentioned by 
one of the settlers] is the most practicable.' The 
good people stared at the young surveyor (for 
they only knew him as such) with surprise, won¬ 
dering at his boldness in thrusting his opinion 
unasked upon the general. 

“The interruption put a sudden stop to Gen¬ 
eral Washington's inquiries. He laid down his 
pen, raised his eyes from his paper, and cast a 
stern look at Mr. Gallatin, evidently offended at 
the intrusion of his opinion, but said not a word. 
Resuming his former attitude, he continued his 
interrogations for a few minutes longer, when, 

165 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


suddenly stopping, he threw down his pen, turned 
to Mr. Gallatin, and said, * You are right, sir/ ” * 
The question naturally arises, Why was Gallatin 
staying at the surveyor’s office ? Perhaps he was 
learning the trade. The picture drawn of Wash¬ 
ington at the table working the day’s sum of in¬ 
formation down to brief compass and the young 
man watching him from the floor is of intense 
interest; because it was no doubt here and now 
that the future statesman and champion of in¬ 
ternal improvements received his first important 
inspiration. As is well known, Gallatin’s com¬ 
prehensive scheme as Secretary of the Treasury, 
less than twenty years later, involved the im¬ 
provement of the Susquehanna, Potomac, and 
James rivers up the eastern slopes of the Alle- 
ghanies and of the Alleghany, Monongahela and 
Kanawha rivers down the Western slopes— 
Washington’s identical plan in 1784, when, as 
a boy, Gallatin watched him from the floor of 
the surveyor’s office and with irrepressible en¬ 
ergy made his impromptu answer. In fact, Mr. 
Adams states that the reason Gallatin selected 
George’s Creek for a base of operations was 
that he held in his hand the best practical con¬ 
nection between the Ohio and the Potomac 
“ which was their path to Richmond and a mar¬ 
ket.” Local tradition has it in the neighborhood 

* The Life of Gallatin (Phil. 1879), 56-59. 

166 


81 " 84] AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


that Gallatin’s answer was to the effect that 
Braddock’s Road marked the most feasible 
route. There was reason enough for Wash¬ 
ington’s agreeing with him and for giving him a 
glance! * 

Hearing that the Dunkard’s Bottom route is 
overgrown, the Washingtons leave Pierpont’s 
before sunrise September 25 by the “New 
Road,” 81 crossing the Cheat at Andrew Ice’s 
ferry, 82 still known by the old name, and climb 
over Cheat Mountain 83 to James Spurgeon’s 84 on 
Sandy Creek, New Bruceton, West Virginia. 
The climb over Cheat Mountain is a long one to¬ 
day and you may ride as did the writer on a sunny 
September day three hours without sight of a hu¬ 
man being or human habitation; the prospect 
could not have been more lonely in 1784 than in 
1904, nor the first glimpse of the Sandy Creek 
Glades from the mountain crest more charming. 
Washington had good reason for traversing Brad- 
dock’s Road, but what brought him into this un¬ 
known country? It was interesting to make this 
query of the mountain folk living along his route. 
Some said he was looking for lands; others 
thought he was buying timber-land. One supposed 
he was being chased by Indians or French! One 

* For Washington’s part in the old quarrel between Pennsyl¬ 
vania and Virginia over Braddock’s and Forbes’s roads, seeHul- 
bert, Historic Highivays of America, V, ch. iv. 

167 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


[85 


was sure he was looking for oil, while several sup¬ 
posed he was merely hunting “ big game.” 

At Bruceton the “New Road” turned north¬ 
east toward Braddock’s Road, while McCullough’s 
Path 85 turned southeast toward the “Great 
Glades of the Yoh.” This path, which owed “ its 
origin to Buffaloes,” affords an interesting illus¬ 
tration of the fact that the pioneers of the West 
were greatly indebted to the buffalo for their first 
passageways; what adds to the interest is the fact 
that this was as true in the Alleghanies as in Ken¬ 
tucky and all the Middle West; the range of the 
buffalo did not extend to the Atlantic seaboard, 
but Washington’s references here and later show 
that it extended at least to Western Maryland. 

A study of the records at the law office at An¬ 
napolis show that there were two McCullough’s 
paths, an “ Old Path ” and a “ New Path ”; they 
are remembered, though the bold pioneer whose 
name they bore is quite forgotten.* The “Old 
Path ” led from Ice’s ferry, which in earliest days 
was known as “McCullough’s Landing,”f to 
Bruceton and from thence by way of “ Castle 

*The names McCulloch and McCullough were common in 
northwestern Virginia; see Reuben Gold Thwaites, Withers’s 
Chronicles of Border Warfare (Cincinnati, 1895), Index. Wash¬ 
ington spells the name both ways, and the present writer knows 
not the name of the marker of the early routes through the 
Glades. 

t Butterfield, Washington-Crawford Letters, 6. 

l68 


86- 9 °] AWAKENING of the west 


Hill ” on Backbone Mountain to the North Branch 
(of the Potomac) at Bloomington, Maryland. 
The “New Road” led from Dunkard’s Bottom, 
passing near Oakland, to Fort Pendleton on the 
North Branch. 

Washington left Bruceton on the “Old Path/’ 
but left it under the guidance of one Lemon, 86 an 
unknown frontiersman bearing a name very well 
known in the Shenandoah Valley, and pursued a 
“small path” across Briery or Snaggy Moun¬ 
tain; 87 the party lay on the edge of the Great 
Glades of the Youghiogheny on the night of Sep¬ 
tember 25, distant some eight miles from Dun¬ 
kard’s Bottom, near the present Crainsville, 
Maryland. 88 Pressing on the next day after a 
wet night in the open they passed near Oakland 
and came to the pioneer home of Charles Friend 89 
on the Stephen Browning farm—formerly the 
“Arnold place”—near Oakland. A beautiful 
field of waving grain covers the site of the old 
cabin where the illustrious traveler could get no¬ 
thing for his horses. Washington, however, was 
satisfied that a good road could be made over the 
route he had come. 

Governor Thomas Johnson 90 of Maryland had 
patented portions of this Garden of the Allegha- 
nies, and the patent describes or “calls for,” as 
surveyors say, McCullough’s Path. It reads: 

“The said State does hereby Grant unto him 
169 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


[91 


the said Thomas Johnson, Esquire, all that the 
aforesaid tract or parcel of land called 'Thomas 
and Ann / lying in Washington County. 

“ Beginning at four bounded white Oaks stand¬ 
ing on the West side of McCullock’s Road in a large 
glade commonly called and known by the name of 
Murley’s Glade. . . A * Johnson was one of the 
great Southern patriots of whom John Adams 
said “ if it had not been for such [Southern] men 
as Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel 
Chase and Thomas Johnson, there never would 
have been any Revolution.” At least as early as 
1770 Washington and Johnson were in corre¬ 
spondence respecting the plan of making the Po¬ 
tomac navigable and joining it with the Ohio 
River. The latter was a delegate to Congress 
I 77S- I 779, and, as we have seen, in 1775 nomi¬ 
nated Washington for the office of Commander- 
in-Chief of the American Army; he was Gov¬ 
ernor of Maryland from 1777 to 1779. Along 
with Patrick Henry he was one of the few Revolu¬ 
tionary patriots who, like Washington, had in¬ 
vested money in Western lands. 

The fair character of the sunny glades is hinted 
at by Washington. 91 The first tracts of land pat¬ 
ented here by pioneers were given names signifi¬ 
cantly beautiful; one was “Promised Land,” 

* Records of Land Office of Maryland, at Annapolis, 

Liber JC, No. 6, fol. 6 seq. 

170 


92J 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


another “Milk and Honey,” another “Bucks- 
bones ” and yet another “ Hinches Discovery.” A 
pretty name for a pioneer claim was “ The Dia¬ 
dem/’ the patent for which called for McCul¬ 
lough’s Path again as follows: “ . . . The State 
of Maryland doth therefore hereby grant unto the 
said George Robins Hayward and Thomas Hay¬ 
ward the said tract of land called ‘ The Diadem’ 
lying and being in Alleghany County aforesaid. 

“ Beginning at two bounded wild cherry trees 
standing by the side of McCollocks Road at the 
lower end of a glade on the North side of a fork of 
Muddy Creek. . . The records show that 
this tract was surveyed April n, 1774, and pat¬ 
ented December 3, 1791, seventeen years elaps¬ 
ing between survey and patent; yet in the case of 
Washington’s Pennsylvania lands but three or 
four years elapsed between survey and patent. 

A mile before reaching Charles Friends the 
Washingtons crossed the Youghiogheny River 92 
near what is now Webster’s Switch on the Balti¬ 
more and Ohio Railroad between Oakland and 
Mountain Lake Park; a bridge was erected over 
the old ford when the pioneer “ Moorfield Road ” 
was built on the buffalo trace, and the ruins of the 
ancient piers will be seen by the explorer who fol¬ 
lows the romantic pathway of that road of a by- 

* Records of Land Office of Maryland, at Annapolis, 

Liber JC, No. G, fol. 115 seq. 

171 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


gone century. And as you look across the river 
at the bottom of that great ravine the heavy si¬ 
lence is suddenly broken by a roar as loud as 
though a score of mountain howitzers had been 
unmasked, and a heavy, magnificent “ limited ” 
hurtles above you through the lifting fogs; it is 
a thundering answer to the important questions 
which Washington was raising when he forded 
this little stream with his nephew sixscore years 
ago; he did not foresee the answer, but he uttered 
the question first and loudest of all his country¬ 
men ; and as one explorer turned away from the 
old ford it was with the thought: Washington 
crossed the Delaware but not more in his coun¬ 
try’s service than when he splashed across the 
Youghiogheny in this dark vale in the Allegha- 
nies; in the former instance he was typically First 
in War; here he stands typically First in Peace. 
I love the “ Washington Crossing the Youghio- 
gheny”; the very act shows how broad-minded 
and far-sighted a man he was and what were his 
splendid powers of initiative; no Fabian policy 
here but rather a fascinating series of active, dar¬ 
ing plans for the union of a land that was nothing 
except free. 

From Friends the travelers pushed forward to 
Archy’s Spring , 93 now called by the old name, sit¬ 
uated by the farm-house of George B. McClellan 
Friend, three miles from Oakland. The Friends 
172 


94-100] AWAKENING of the west 


of this region are all related more or less closely 
to the pioneer Charles Friend; the ancient spring 
is well-housed to-day, and above it on a dry knoll 
is a vestige of an old cabin-site. 

Pursuing the pathway which can still be fol¬ 
lowed easily in the forests, Washington crossed 
Backbone Mountain and came down into Ryan’s 
Glade 94 at the old William Lower place, five miles 
beyond, where Thomas Logston lived ; 95 thence to 
Joseph LogstoiTs 96 on the present site of the old 
Henry Bruce farm now owned by William Will- 
deson. Four miles more brought them to the Po¬ 
tomac at Thomas Logston’s 97 clearing on the 
present site of Fort Pendleton, West Virginia 
With every one met, the practicability of putting 
a road through from near Fort Pendleton to Dun- 
kard’s Bottom was discussed, and from a brother 
of Thomas Logston’s Washington received a fa¬ 
vorable report of the portage between the head of 
the James 98 and the head of New River. 

Leaving Logston’s September 27 , the Wash¬ 
ingtons crossed Stony Creek or “ River ” 99 a little 
north of the present Northwestern Turnpike 
bridge and traveled to the home of Abraham 
Hite 100 on the South Branch (of the Potomac) by 
the way of the head of Patterson’s Creek evidently 
still on what was known as McCullough’s Path. 
Hite lived at what is now Port Pleasant. On the 
twenty-ninth, Washington, who desired to visit 
173 


WASHINGTON AND THE [101 ' 105 


Thomas Lewis near Staunton, sent Bushrod 
Washington onward to Warner Washington's to 
bid Dr. Craik and son not to wait there, and pro¬ 
ceeded himself to near Harrisonburg , 101 Rocking¬ 
ham County, Virginia. Passing down the north¬ 
ern tributary of the Shenandoah and through 
Brock’s Gap 102 he reached Mr. Lewis’s at sun¬ 
down on the last day of September. Proceeding 
on October 2 d he passes through Swift Run Gap 103 
in the Blue Ridge, which here is the boundary line 
between Rockbridge and Green counties and fol¬ 
lows the Culpeper road. Breakfasting at Cul¬ 
peper Court House 104 on the morning of October 
3 he reaches one Ashby’s tavern 105 near Elk Run 
Church that night, and passing through Colches¬ 
ter the next day rides to Mount Vernon before 
nightfall, October 4 . 

Immediately upon his arrival at home Wash¬ 
ington summarizes his journal and draws a plan 
for the commercial union of the Great Lakes, and 
the country between (Ohio and Western Pennsyl¬ 
vania), with Virginia by way of the Monongahela 
and Potomac rivers. He gives figures which show 
that no other route compares in shortness of dis¬ 
tance with the Monongahela route. So far as the 
objections of Philadelphia merchants are con¬ 
cerned, Washington now comes out squarely on 
the American principle of the greatest good to the 
174 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


greatest number and advances the proposition that 
the inhabitants of western Pennsylvania have a 
right to demand of that State to open the com¬ 
munication which will benefit them most. He 
states that numbers of people in that region were 
thinking of demanding a separation from Penn¬ 
sylvania if the most practical communication with 
the seaboard was kept closed because of selfish 
interests. These were, undoubtedly, the influen¬ 
tial Virginians with whom Washington became 
acquainted. This was not, as it may seem, an in¬ 
dication of mere partisanship; so far as the water¬ 
ways were concerned, the Monongahela-Po- 
tomac route was the most practicable of any 
between the Ohio basin and Atlantic tide-water. 

Of course the Virginians made the most of this, 
and without delaying a week, Washington pre¬ 
sents in a letter to Governor Harrison the whole 
problem; this letter serves to interpret the sum¬ 
mary of his diary; a small portion that is almost 
a quotation from it is omitted: 

“ Mount Vernon, October io, 1784. 
“Dear Sir: 

“ Upon my return from the western country a 
few days ago, I had the pleasure to receive your 
favor of the 17th ultimo. . . . 

“ I shall take the liberty now, my dear Sir, to 
suggest a matter, which would (if I am not a 
175 


WASHINGTON AND THE [106 - 109i 


shortsighted politician) mark your administra¬ 
tion as an important era in the annals of this coun¬ 
try, if it should be recommended by you and 
adopted by the Assembly. 

“ It has long been my decided opinion, that the 
shortest, easiest and least expensive communica¬ 
tion with the invaluable and extensive country 
back of us would be by one or both of the rivers 
of this State, which have their sources in the 
Apalachian Mountains. Nor am I singular in this 
opinion. Evans, in his Map and Analysis of the 
Middle Colonies,* which, considering the early 
period at which they were given to the public, are 
done with amazing exactness, and Hutchins since, 
in his Topographical Description of the Western 
country,*)* a good part of which is from actual sur- 

* Lewis Evans’s Map of 1755 “corrected” and published in 
Thomas Pownall, Topographical Description ... of North Amer¬ 
ica (London, 1776). 

t Thomas Hutchins, Topographical Description, etc. (London, 
1778). 

(106) December 16-22, 1753, Journal of 1753-54; Sparks, Writ¬ 
ings of Washington, II, 444. 

(107) Erie, Pennsylvania. 

(108) National Intelligencer, August 26, 1847; Charles Moore, 
The Northwest Under Three Flags, 325; Sparks, Writings of 
Washington, VIII, 483; IX, 48. 

(109) Washington made Detroit the commercial center of 
Greater America, as it had been the center of the old Northwest; 
he proposed to include it in the first state created; see second 
reference in the preceding note (108). 

(109/4) These tables of distances are in the appendix of Hut¬ 
chins’s Topographical Description. 

176 


110J AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


veys, are decidedly of the same sentiments; as 
indeed are all others, who have had opportunities, 
and have been at the pains, to investigate and con¬ 
sider the subject. 

“ But that this may not now stand as matter of 
opinion and assertion, unsupported by facts (such 
at least as the best maps now extant, compared 
with the oral testimony, which my opportunities 
in the course of the war have enabled me to ob¬ 
tain), I shall give you the different routes and dis¬ 
tances from Detroit, by which all the trade of the 
northwestern parts of the united territory must 
pass; unless the Spaniards, contrary to their 
present policy, should engage part of it, or the 
British should attempt to force nature, by carry¬ 
ing the trade of the Upper Lakes by the River 
Utawas [Ottawa] into Canada, which I scarcely 
think they will or could effect. Taking Detroit 
then (which is putting ourselves in as unfavorable 
a point of view as we can be well placed in, because 
it is upon the line of the British territory,) as a 
point by which, as I have already observed, all 
that part of the trade must come, it appears from 
the statement enclosed, that the tide waters of this 
State 110 are nearer to it by one hundred and sixty- 
eight miles, than those of the River St. Law¬ 
rence 110 ; or than those of the Hudson at Albany, 
by one hundred and seventy-six miles. 110 

“ Maryland stands upon similar ground with 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


Virginia. Pennsylvania, although the Susque¬ 
hanna is an unfriendly [obstructed] water, much 
impeded, it is said, with rocks and rapids, and 
nowhere communicating with those, which lead to 
her capital [Philadelphia], has it in contemplation 
to open a communication between Toby’s Creek, 
which empties into the Alleghany River ninety- 
five miles above Fort Pitt, and the west branch of 
the Susquehanna, and to cut a canal between the 
waters of the latter and the Schuylkill; * the ex¬ 
pense of which is easier to be conceived, than esti¬ 
mated or described by me. A people, however, 
who are possessed of the spirit of commerce, who 
see and who will pursue their advantages, may 
achieve almost anything. In the meantime, under 
the uncertainty of these undertakings, they are 
smoothing the roads and paving the ways for the 
trade of that Western world. That New York 
will do the same as soon as the British garrisons 
are removed, which are at present insurmountable 
obstacles in their way, no person, who knows the 
temper, genius, and policy of those people as well 
as I do, can harbour the smallest doubt. 

“ Thus much with respect to rival States. Let 
me now take a short view of our own; and being 
aware of the objections which are in the way, I 

* This earliest planned lock-canal in America, from near Read¬ 
ing on the Schuylkill to Middletown on the Susquehanna, was 
proposed in 1762, but was not begun until 1791. See Hulbert, 
Historic Highways of America , XIII, 22. 

178 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


will, in order to contrast them, enumerate them 
with the advantages. 

“ The first and principal one is the unfortunate 
jealousy, which ever has, and it is to be feared 
ever will prevail, lest one part [Potomac] of the 
State should obtain an advantage over the other 
[James] parts, as if the benefits of the trade were 
not diffusive and beneficial to all. Then follows 
a train of difficulties, namely, that our people are 
already heavily taxed; that we have no money; 
that the advantages of this trade are remote [not 
immediate] ; that the most direct route for it is 
through other States, over which we have no con¬ 
trol ; that the routes over which we have control 
are as distant as either of those which lead to 
Philadelphia, Albany, or Montreal; that a suffi¬ 
cient spirit of commerce does not pervade the citi¬ 
zens of this commonwealth; and that we are in 
fact doing for others, what they ought to do for 
themselves. 

“ Without going into the investigation of a 
question, which has employed the pens of all poli¬ 
ticians, namely, whether trade with foreigners is 
an advantage or disadvantage to a country, this 
State, as a part of the Confederated States, all of 
which have the spirit of it very strongly working 
within them, must adopt it or submit to the evils 
arising therefrom without receiving its benefits. 
Common policy, therefore, points clearly and 
179 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


strongly to the propriety of our enjoying all the 
advantages, which nature and our local situation 
afford us; and evinces clearly, that, unless this 
spirit could be totally eradicated in other States as 
well as in this, and every man made to become 
either a cultivator of the land or a manufacturer 
of such articles as are prompted by necessity, such 
stimulus should be employed as will force this 
spirit, by showing to our countrymen the superior 
advantages we possess beyond others, and the im¬ 
portance of being upon an equal footing with our 
neighbors. 

“ If this is fair reasoning, it ought to follow as 
a consequence, that we should do our part towards 
opening the communication for the fur and peltry 
trade of the Lakes and for the produce of the coun¬ 
try which lies within, and which will, as soon as 
matters are settled with the Indians, and the terms 
on which Congress means to dispose of the land, 
found to be favorable, are announced, be settled 
faster than any other ever was, or anyone would 
imagine. This, then, when considered is an inter¬ 
ested point of view, is alone sufficient to excite our 
endeavors. But in my opinion there is a political 
consideration for so doing which is of still greater 
importance. . . . [Three paragraphs which only 
paraphrase those of the diary.] 

“The preliminary steps to the attainment of 
180 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


this great object [opening communications] would 
be attended with very little expense, and might, 
at the same time that it served to attract the atten¬ 
tion of the Western country, and convince the 
wavering inhabitants of our disposition to connect 
ourselves with them, and facilitate their commerce 
with us, be a means of removing those jealousies, 
which otherwise might take place among our¬ 
selves. 

“ These, in my opinion, are, to appoint commis¬ 
sioners, who, from their situation, integrity, and 
abilities, can be under no suspicion of prejudice 
or predilection to one part more than to another. 
Let these commissioners make an actual survey of 
James River and the Potomac from tide-water to 
their respective sources; note with great accur¬ 
acy the kind of navigation and the obstructions, 
the difficulty and expense attending the removal 
of these obstructions, the distances from place to 
place through their whole extent, and the nearest 
and best portage between these waters and the 
streams capable of improvement, which run into 
the Ohio; traverse these in like manner to their 
junction with the Ohio, and with equal accuracy. 
The navigation of the Ohio being well known, 
they will have less to do in the examination of it; 
but, nevertheless, let the courses and distances be 
taken to the mouth of the Muskingum, and up that 
181 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


river (notwithstanding it is in the ceded lands) * to 
the carrying-place to the Cayahoga; down the 
Cayahoga to Lake Erie; and thence to Detroit. 
Let them do the same with Big Beaver Creek, al¬ 
though part of it is in the State of Pennsylvania; 
and also with the Scioto. In a word, Let the 
waters east and west of the Ohio, which invite our 
notice by their proximity, and by the ease with 
which land transportation may be had between 
them and the Lakes on one side, and the Rivers 
Potomac and James on the other, be explored, ac¬ 
curately delineated, and a correct and connected 
map of the whole be presented to the public. 
These things being done, I shall be mistaken if 
prejudice does not yield to facts, jealousy to can¬ 
dor, and, finally, if reason and nature, thus aided, 
do not dictate what is right and proper to be done. 

“ In the mean while, if it should be thought that 
the lapse of time which is necessary to effect the 
work, may be attended with injurious conse¬ 
quences, could not there be a sum of money 
granted towards opening the best, or, if it should 
be deemed more eligible, two of the nearest com¬ 
munications (one to the northward and another to 
the southward) with the settlements to the west¬ 
ward; and an act be passed, if there should not 

* By the Treaty of Fort Stanwix (Rome, New York), October, 
1784, the western boundary line of Pennsylvania was established 
as the line between the United States and the Six Nations, who, 
nominally, were the owners of the “ Northwest.” 

182 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


appear a manifest disposition in the Assembly to 
make it a public undertaking, to incorporate and 
encourage private adventurers, if any should asso¬ 
ciate and solicit the same, for the purpose of ex¬ 
tending the navigation of the Potomac or James 
River; and, in the former case, to request the con¬ 
currence of Maryland in the measure ? It will ap¬ 
pear from my statement of the different routes 
(and, as far as my means of information have ex¬ 
tended, I have done it with the utmost candor), 
that all the produce of the settlements about Fort 
Pitt can be brought to Alexandria by the Youghio- 
gheny in three hundred and four miles, whereof 
only thirty-one are land transportation; and by 
the Monongahela and Cheat Rivers in three hun¬ 
dred and sixty miles, twenty of which only are 
land carriage.* Whereas the common road from 
Fort Pitt to Philadelphia is three hundred and 
twenty miles, all land transportation; or four 
hundred and seventy-six miles if the Ohio, Toby’s 
Creek, Susquehanna, and Schuylkill are made use 
of for this purpose. How much of this is by land, 
I know not; but from the nature of the country it 
must be very considerable. How much the inter¬ 
est and feelings of people thus circumstanced 
would be engaged to promote it, requires no illus¬ 
tration. 

*It is evident that Washington follows exactly 
the schedule given in the Diary. 

183 


WASHINGTON AND THE 

“ ... I think it highly probable, ... if the Falls 
of the Great Kanawha can be made navigable, or 
a short portage be had there, it will be found of 
equal importance and convenience to improve the 
navigation of both the James and Potomac. The 
latter . . . offers the nearest communication with 
the Lakes; but James River may be more conve¬ 
nient for all the settlers [on the Ohio] below the 
mouth of the Great Kanawha, and for some dis¬ 
tance perhaps above and west of it; for I have no 
expectation that any part of the trade above the 
falls of the Ohio will go down that river and the 
Mississippi, much less that the returns [barter] 
will ever come up them, unless our want of fore¬ 
sight and good management is the occasion of it. 
Or, upon trial, if it should be found that these 
rivers, from the before mentioned Falls, will ad¬ 
mit the descent of sea-vessels, in that case, and 
the navigation of the former becoming free, it is 
probable that both vessels and cargoes will be car¬ 
ried to foreign markets and sold; but the returns 
for them will never in the natural course of things 
ascend the long and rapid current of that river, 
which with the Ohio to the Falls, in their meander- 
ings, is little if any short of two thousand miles. 
In this light I think posterity will consider it, and 
regret, if our conduct should give them cause, that 
the present favorable moment to secure so great a 
blessing for them was neglected. 

184 



%0Nmfr 


Turkey 


CWNQtS Of GROKf NOUGtt 


Difficult 


'Little 


Gf\tf.U GANGES 


River 


Stony 


Georges^ 


[Gwinn’s] 


A Warner alias Ryans Glacles 
B Archers Spring 


The heads of Cheat must 
be this course 


L.L.POATES, ENSR'G CO. N.Y. 


WASHINGTON’S MAP OF THE COUNTRY BETWEEN THE POTOMAC AND YOUGHIOGHENY 

RIVERS [1784] 

[This map was evidently made immediately upon the General’s return to Mount Vernon. The dotted line from Cumberland is Braddock’s Road. 
“McCulloghs Road” on “Patinon’s” [Patterson’s] Creek is shown in the lower left-hand corner. The large capitals A and B indicate the por¬ 
tage route selected by Washington between the rivers. Small capitals A and b are, as noted in the corner, Ryan’s Glade and Archer’s Spring. 
Large capital A marks the present Fort Pendleton ; the figure 40 to the left indicates the number of miles to Cumberland. The words “ The heads 
of Cheat,” etc., mean that the portage road to t-hat river must bear away from the heads of the “ Yough.” The “ Dividing Ridge ” is Backbone 
Mountain. This map was printed with Stewart’s Report (H. R. 1st Session, 19th Cong. No. 228) on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal route, show¬ 
ing a course for that canal not more than a mile below the dotted line from North Branch and Cheat drawn by Washington forty-two years before.] 










AWAKENING OF THE WEST 

“ One thing more remains, which I had like to 
have forgotten, and that is, the supposed difficulty 
of obtaining a passage through the State of Penn¬ 
sylvania. How an application to its legislature 
would be relished, in the first instance, I will not 
undertake to decide; but of one thing I am almost 
certain, such an application would place that body 
in a very delicate situation. There are in the 
State of Pennsylvania at least one hundred thou¬ 
sand souls west of the Laurel Hill, who are groan¬ 
ing under the inconveniences of a long land trans¬ 
portation. They are wishing, indeed they are 
looking, for the improvement and extension of in¬ 
land navigation; and, if this cannot be made easy 
for them to Philadelphia (at any rate it must be 
long), they will seek a mart elsewhere; the conse¬ 
quence of which would be, that the State, though 
contrary to the interests of its sea-ports, must sub¬ 
mit to the loss of so much of its trade, or hazard 
not only the loss of the trade but the loss of the 
settlement also; for an opposition on the part of 
government to the extension of water transpor¬ 
tation, so consonant with the essential interests 
of a large body of people, or any extraordinary 
impositions upon the exports or imports to or 
from another State, would ultimately bring on a 
separation between its eastern and western settle¬ 
ments ; towards which there is not wanting a dis¬ 
position at this moment in that part of it beyond 

185 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


the mountains. . . .* What I now give is crude; 
but if you are in sentiment with me, I have said 
enough; if there is not an accordance of opinion, 
I have said too much; and all I pray in the latter 
case is, that you will do me the justice to believe 
my motives are pure, however erroneous my judg¬ 
ment may be in this matter.” f 

This was more than a private letter, for the 
Governor presented it bodily to the Virginia As¬ 
sembly as a State Paper, as Harrison wrote Wash¬ 
ington November 13 the following: “I was in 
great hopes of seeing you here [Richmond] be¬ 
fore this, that I might . . . tell you how much I 
approve of your plan for opening the navigation 
of the western waters. The letter was so much 
more explicit than I could be, that I took the lib¬ 
erty to lay it before the Assembly, who appear so 
impressed with the utility of the measure, that I 
dare say they will order the survey you propose 
immediately, and will at their next sitting proceed 
to carry the plan into execution.” $ 

The Governor’s words came true, for both 
Maryland and Virginia passed a law§ in the 
spring (1785), authorizing the formation of a 
company to proceed with the opening of the navi- 

* This omitted sentence refers to Rumsey’s invention and is 
an exact quotation from the Diary,, 
t Sparks, Writings of Washington, IX, 5S-68. 

$ Id., IX, 68, note . 

§ Henning, The Statutes at Large, XI, ch. xliii. 

186 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


gation of the Potomac and the building of a high¬ 
way from the uttermost navigable waters of the 
nearest Western water; Pennsylvania was to be 
asked to improve the navigation of any stream in 
her territory that was found to be the best avenue 
between the Potomac and Ohio. Subscription 
books were opened February 8, 1785, and a meet¬ 
ing of subscribers was called for May 17. Four 
hundred and three shares, it was found, had been 
subscribed, making the capital about $200,000. 
General Washington was elected President of the 
Potomac Company, as it was called, and Thomas 
Johnson, Thomas Sim Lee, John Fitzgerald and 
George Gilpin were elected directors. Work was 
soon begun on the Potomac, under the superin¬ 
tendency of “the ingenious M r Rumsey” whom 
Washington called to the task, in rendering navi¬ 
gation possible around Great Falls (near Wash¬ 
ington, D. C.), Seneca Falls and Shenandoah Falls 
at Harper’s Ferry.* 

But, Virginian though he was, Washington did 
not intend to limit the benefit of his recent explor¬ 
ation; on December 14 he wrote Richard Henry 
Lee, President of Congress, in much the same 
strain: “The Assemblies of Virginia and Mary¬ 
land have now under consideration the extension 

* The history of the Potomac Company has been sketched by 
John Picked, A New Chapter in the Early Life of Washington 
(New York, 1856). 


187 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


of the inland navigation of the rivers Potomac and 
James, and opening a communication between 
them and the western waters. They seem fully 
impressed with the political as well as the com¬ 
mercial advantages which would result from the 
accomplishment of these great objects, and I hope 
will embrace the present moment to put them in a 
train for execution. Would it not, at the same 
time, be worthy of the wisdom and attention of 
Congress to have the western waters well ex¬ 
plored, the navigation of them fully ascertained, 
accurately laid down, and a complete and perfect 
map made of the country; at least as far westerly 
as the Miamies, running into the Ohio and Lake 
Erie,* and to see how the waters of these com¬ 
municate with the River St. Joseph, which empties 
into the Lake Michigan, and with the Wabash? 
For I cannot forbear observing that the Miami vil¬ 
lage, in Hutchins’s map, if it and the waters are 
laid down with accuracy, points to a very impor¬ 
tant post [fort] for the Union.f The expense at¬ 
tending such an undertaking could not be great, 
the advantages would be unbounded; for sure I 
am, nature has made such a display of her bounties 
in those regions, that the more the country is ex¬ 
plored, the more it will rise in estimation, conse- 

* Miami, running southwest into the Ohio, and the Maumee 
(“ Miami-of-the-Lakes ”), flowing northward into Lake Erie. 

t Fort Wayne, Indiana. 


188 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


quently the greater will the revenue be to the 
Union. . . . The spirit of emigration is great. 
People have got impatient, and, though you can¬ 
not stop the road, it is yet in your power to mark 
the way; a little while and you will not be able to 
do either. It is easier to prevent than to remedy 
an evil. . . .” * 

Here Washington advances a new and impor¬ 
tant reason for “making a smooth road” to the 
West, namely, a military one. Within six months 
he wrote Major General Knox, “ Secretary at 
War: ” “ If I am right in my principles, some such 
distribution as the following may not be ineligible 
for the seven hundred men, that are ordered to be 
raised. At Fort Pitt, Fort McIntosh, or the 
mouth of the Big Beaver, being in the vicinity of 
a thick settlement, only one hundred men. At 
Cayahoga, whence a detachment might occupy 
the carrying-place between that water and the Big 
Beaver, being on the line and most exposed, I cl- 
low two hundred. At Miami Fort, or Village, 
and dependencies, two hundred. At the Falls of 
Ohio [Louisville], or some spot more convenient 
and healthy on that river, one hundred and fifty. 
At the conflux of the Great Kanawha and the 
Ohio, for security of the river, protection of trade 
and covering emigrants, fifty.” f 

* Sparks, Writings of Washington, IX, 80-81. 

t Id., IX, iicr-in. 

189 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


Another question of national importance as well 
as of immediate concern was the control of the 
Mississippi; in connection with this problem 
Washington’s plan of intercommunication, as else¬ 
where noted, had a place. “ I may be singular in 
my ideas,” he wrote David Humphreys a little 
later, “ but they are these; that, to open a door to, 
and make easy the way for, . . . settlers to the 
westward (who ought to advance regularly and 
compactly) before we make any stir about the 
navigation of the Mississippi, and before our set¬ 
tlements are far advanced towards that river, 
would be our true line of policy.” * And he wrote 
Lee again: . . the navigation of the Missis¬ 

sippi, at this time, ought to be no object with us. 
On the contrary, until we have a little time al¬ 
lowed to open and make easy the ways between 
the Atlantic States and the western territory, the 
obstructions had better remain. There is nothing 
which binds one country or one State to another 
but interest. Without this cement the western 
inhabitants, who more than probably will be com¬ 
posed in a great degree of foreigners, can have no 
predilection for us, and a commercial connection 
is the only tie we can have upon them. . . . When 
the settlements are stronger and more extended 
to the westward, the navigation of the Mississippi 
will be an object of importance, and we shall then 

♦Sparks, Writings of Washington, IX, 115. 

190 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


be able, reserving our claims, to speak a more 
efficacious language, than policy, I think dictates 
at present/’ * Washington’s theory was popular, 
for Lee wrote him: “ But my dear General, I do 
not think you go far enough. Rather than defer 
longer a free and liberal system of trade with 
Spain, why not agree to the exclusion of the Mis¬ 
sissippi? This exclusion will not, cannot, exist 
longer than the infancy of the western emi¬ 
grants.” f Another hitherto unconsidered benefit 
to arise from the opening of a westward highway 
is incidentally brought out here, namely, its influ¬ 
ence in inducing and encouraging emigration. 

While noting these larger problems to which 
the intercommunication plan was introductory, it 
must be observed that it vitally concerned what 
soon became the “ Territory Northwest of the 
River Ohio.” What has already been quoted con¬ 
cerning the fortification of the Cuyahoga- 
Beaver portage and the Miami Village shows that 
Washington was the ultimate authority on the 
Western problem, therefore Secretary Knox’s 
question. When, during his first presidency, the 
Indian War waged by Harmar, St. Clair and 
Wayne attracted the Nation’s attention, no one 
knew the country or the conditions that prevailed 
in the West as did the man at the helm. For years 
Washington kept up a private correspondence 
* Sparks, Writings of Washington , IX, 119. I Id-, IX, 173, note. 

191 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


with military men on the frontier for the sole pur¬ 
pose of getting additional pieces of information 
concerning the rivers and the portages of the 
West. 

The direct influence of the advance steps taken 
by Virginia and Maryland in forming the Poto¬ 
mac Company was tremendous; it created no end 
of comment and speculation, and in a moment’s 
time a score of prophets arose with pencil and pad 
to show that Philadelphia or New York, as the 
case might be, was, without question, nearer the 
Great Lakes and Ohio basin than any Potomac 
Valley port. In Pennsylvania the “Society for 
promoting the improvement of roads and inland 
navigation ” memorialized the Legislature Febru¬ 
ary 7, 1791, in behalf of a campaign of inland nav¬ 
igation ; “ To combine the interests of all parts of 
the state,” it was related, “ and to cement them in 
a perpetual commercial and political union, by the 
improvement of those natural advantages, is one 
of the greatest works which can be submitted to 
legislative wisdom; and the present moment is 
particularly auspicious for the undertaking, and 
if neglected, the loss will be hard to retrieve.” * 
The words might have been Washington’s! On 
the 13th of April following about $100,000 was 

* An Historical Account of the Rise, Progress and Present 
State of the Canal Navigation in Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 
1795 ), 1. 


I92 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


appropriated, of which $25,000 was for the Sus¬ 
quehanna, $14,000 for the Conemaugh and $150 
for the Alleghany. This was Pennsylvania's 
western route. New York was a little behind 
Pennsylvania; but on March 30, 1792, that state 
passed An Act for establishing and opening Lock 
Navigation within this State,* and the Western 
Inland Lock Navigation Company began the im¬ 
provement of the Mohawk-Lake Oneida route to 
the Great Lakes. The leader of the inland navi¬ 
gation campaign in New York, Elkanah Watson, 
received direct inspiration from Washington, 
whom he visited at Mount Vernon; his host told 
him, among other things, that he believed that the 
stock-holders in the Potomac Company would, in 
a few years, receive twenty per cent, on their in¬ 
vestment.*)* Engineers on the Mohawk route vis¬ 
ited the works of the Potomac Company to make 
observations of practical value; the Potomac 
River became for the moment the canal lock uni¬ 
versity of America. They also visited the Mid¬ 
dlesex Canal between Boston harbor and the Mer- 
rimac River, which was incorporated in 1789 
though not completed until fifteen years later; the 
first American canal also had its origin in the days 
of the commercial awakening which incidentally 

* Laws of the State of New York, II, ch. xi. 

t Watson, History of the . . . Western Canals in the State of 
New York, 87. 


13 


193 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


succeeded the termination of the Revolution. It 
would be easy, perhaps, to exaggerate the influ¬ 
ence exerted by Washington's Potomac Company 
in the similar undertakings; that they were more 
or less effected by Virginia's and Maryland's for¬ 
ward step is sure; indeed, so far as the inland nav¬ 
igation projects are concerned, Washington fore¬ 
saw and foretold them, though he did not expect 
to see the Mohawk improvement begin until Eng¬ 
land had released from her grasp the Great Lake 
positions, Niagara and Detroit. As to New 
York's ability to open that channel toward the 
West, we have seen that Washington did not 
“ harbor the smallest doubt." Nor did the wise 
man begrudge the New Yorkers their fine oppor¬ 
tunity for obtaining the trade of the West. “ For 
my own part," he said to a member of Congress, 
“ I wish sincerely every door of that country may 
be set wide open, and the commercial intercourse 
with it rendered as free and easy as possible . . . 
and we shall be deficient in foresight and wisdom 
if we neglect the means of effecting it." The at¬ 
titude of this man surely had its effect in the 
awakening of New York; “Washington’s lan¬ 
guage," wrote Professor Adams, “ seems almost 
prophetic." 

But there is almost no exaggerating the influ¬ 
ence of Washington's attitude to the West; just a 
moment longer that splendid empire lay like a 
194 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


giant asleep; and then it sprang into a wonderful 
life that is the marvel of the centuries. It is 
hardly too much to say that it was George Wash¬ 
ington who called that giant from its sloth of 
millenniums to the deeds witnessed in that won¬ 
derful half century. In all phases of the awaken¬ 
ing of the West—the Mississippi question, the 
organization of the Northwest Territory, the 
formulating of the ordinance of 1787 ("the le¬ 
gal outcome of Maryland’s successful policy in 
advocating National Sovereignty over the West¬ 
ern Lands ”), the ceding of lands to the National 
Government, the handling of the Indian problem 
—Washington’s influence and knowledge were of 
paramount usefulness. Take these instances of 
his prescience as yet unmentioned: he suggested, 
in connection with the Potomac improvement, the 
policy of exploration and national surveys which 
our government has steadily adhered to since that 
day; * the Lewis and Clark expedition was a re¬ 
sult of this policy advocated first by Washington. 
Again, note Washington’s singularly wise opinion 
on the separation of Kentucky from Virginia. 
Writing to Jefferson in 1785, he affirms that the 
general opinion in his part of Virginia is unfavor¬ 
able to the separation. “ I have uniformly given 
it as mine,” he wrote, “ to meet them upon their 
own ground, draw the best line and make the best 

* Sparks, Writings of Washington, IX, 80. 

195 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


terms we can, and part good friends.” * There 
could be no more marvelous instance of a states¬ 
man’s clear reading of a people’s future than this; 
and Washington, with a trifle less modesty than 
usually envelopes his correspondence, added, in 
his letter to Jefferson, that in all probability addi¬ 
tional information as to Kentucky’s designs will 
be forthcoming at the next session of the Virginia 
Legislature, but “if you should not receive it 
through a better channel, I will have the honor to 
inform you.” Washington here stands as the 
champion of an independent Kentucky. And, 
again, it is to the point to notice Washington’s 
far-seeing view of the progress and enterprise of 
the West in relation to commerce; who before him 
ever had the temerity to suggest {ante, p. 102) 
that ships would descend the Ohio River and sail 
for foreign ports? And yet the prophecy was 
speedily realized in less than a generation, for 
brigs were then taking out papers at Marietta, 
Ohio, and elsewhere and going overseas to Euro¬ 
pean ports.*)* 

If, as Professor McMaster has said, “ George 
Washington is an unknown man,” it is because we 
know the heroic figure and have forgotten the 
sane, busy, clear-headed man portrayed in this 

* Sparks, Writings of Washington, IX, 134. Washington was 
never in favor of the “ grasping ” attitude of certain Virginians. 

Cf. Id., IX, 33. 

t Thompson Mason Harris, Journal of a Tour, 140. 

I96 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 

diary. Washington, in the abstract, as taking 
command of the Continental Army under the 
Cambridge Elm, is an unknown man; not so the 
Washington viewing his white oak land on the 
upper Potomac, or fighting an honest land claim 
in the courts, or sleeping a night in his military 
cloak amid the Great Glades of the Youghiogheny. 
“It does not detract from Washington’s true 
greatness,” wrote Professor Adams, “for the 
world to know this material side of his character. 
On the contrary, it only exalts that heroic spirit 
which, in disaster, never faltered, and which, in 
success, would have no reward. To be sure, it 
brings Washington nearer the level of humanity 
to know that he was endowed with the passions 
common to men, and that he was as diligent in 
business as he was fervent in his devotion to coun¬ 
try. It may seem less ideal to view Washington 
as a man rather than as a hero or statesman, but 
it is the duty of history to deal with great men as 
they actually are. Man lives for himself, as well 
as in and for the State, and the distinction of indi¬ 
vidual from patriotic motives is one of the neces¬ 
sary tasks of historical investigation.” In pass¬ 
ing it should be noted that in all his endeavors to 
“open the door to the West” Washington was 
ever subject to the accusation of self-interest; he 
virtually acknowledges in a letter to Jefferson that 
he is looked upon as a prejudiced prophet when he 
197 


WASHINGTON AND THE 


affirmed that he (Washington) was glad to know 
that Jefferson coincided with him in the impor¬ 
tance of the intercommunication scheme although 
he had no property in the West. So far as self- 
interest goes Washington was insistent for Poto¬ 
mac improvement, whereas the vast bulk of his 
Western property lay on the lower fifty miles of 
the Great Kanawha River; had he been influ¬ 
enced by personal motives only he would have 
given his whole attention to the James River im¬ 
provement and not the Potomac; it would have 
meant far more to him financially. And when 
both (Potomac and James) companies were es¬ 
tablished, the State of Virginia subscribed to fifty 
shares in both and voted them to George Wash¬ 
ington in token of public esteem for services ren¬ 
dered; yet Washington refused the gift until he 
found a method of acceptance that left him not 
one penny the richer for it. 

But return to the proposition made by Profes¬ 
sor Adams, that it not only does not lessen our 
esteem of Washington to know the details of his 
business enterprises, but indeed increases it. I 
submit that it has been because of the lack of 
knowledge of Washington’s private ambitions and 
interests that Professor McMaster can say that 
the General and President are known to us, but 
“ George Washington is an unknown man.” 
What is needed to keep the personality of that 
198 


AWAKENING OF THE WEST 


truly great man distinct and vivid is a properly 
adjusted estimate of the “ material ” as well as the 
“ heroic ” elements of his character; in no case is 
there more urgent need of a “ distinction of indi¬ 
vidual from patriotic motives” than in that of 
Washington; else we shall keep the “ General” 
and “ President ” and lose this man most perfectly 
represented in the diary of 1784 and its affiliated 
correspondence—the greatest man in America 
had there been no Revolutionary War. 


199 











INDEX 
































INDEX 


A 

Adams, Henry, quoted, 164, 166 
Adams, Herbert B., quoted, 3, 
14, 22, 23, 194, 197, 198 
Adams, John, quoted, 170 
Addison, Judge Alexander, 159 
Albany, N. Y., Washington de¬ 
scribes water route from De¬ 
troit to, 96 

Alexandria, Va., Washington 
describes water routes to, 92; 
mentioned, 17, 93, 94, H3> 
117, 121, 183 

Alleghany Mountains, the old 
“ doors ” of, 17 

Allen, James Lane, The Blue 
Grass Region of Kentucky , 
quoted on difficulties of im¬ 
migration, 17 

Archy’s Spring, Washington at, 
172 

“Arnold Place,” mentioned, 169 
Ashby, Capt. John, entertains 
Washington, 84, 85, 174 
Ashby’s Bent, Va., Washington’s 
land in, 11 

Augusta Springs, mentioned, 31, 
34 

B 

Backbone Mountain, Washing¬ 
ton crosses, 169, 173 
Back Creek, Washington at, 32, 
119> 125 

Balmain, Rev. Mr., describes his 
western route to Washington, 
34 

“Barrens” of Kentucky, the 
formation of the, 115 


Bartlett, John Russell, quoted, 
163 

Bath, Va., Washington at, 28; 
Washington meets Rumsey at, 
32-3; Washington’s lots and 
houses at, 32-5; mentioned, 
119, 125-31 

Beason Town, 56, 59; see 
Uniontown 

Berkeley, Bishop, quoted, 16 
Berkeley County, Va., Washing¬ 
ton’s land in, 11 
Berkeley Springs; see Bath 
Big Bent (Ohio River), Wash¬ 
ington’s land opposite, 12 
Biggart, Thomas, squatter on 
Washington’s land, 50, 55, 152 
Bloomington, Md., mentioned, 
169 

Blue Grass Region of Ken¬ 
tucky; see Allen 
Blue Licks, battle of, mentioned, 
133 

“ Bohemia Manor,” Rumsey’s 
birthplace, 125 

Boonesborough, Ky., mentioned, 
123 

Boone’s road, route of, 123 
Botetourt C. H., mentioned, 123 
Boyd’s Tavern, mentioned, 123 
Braddock, General, mentioned, 
106, 112, 133, 135 
Braddock’s Grave, mentioned, 
138, 140, 159, 160 
Briery Mountain, Washington 
on, 68; mentioned, 72, 120, 169 
Briscoe, Dr., Ohio lands of, 62, 
161 

Brock’s Gap, Washington at, 

84, 174 


203 


INDEX 


Brooks, William, Washington 
purchased Great Meadows of, 
137 

Brown, William, cited, 134 
Browning, Stephen, farm of, 169 
Brownsville, Pa., starting-point 
of Catfish Path, 123; see Red 
Stone Old Fort 

Bruce, Col., Washington inter¬ 
views, 35, 36, 124; promises to 
survey upper Potomac, 124, 

156 

Bruce, Henry, farm of, 173 
Bryan’s Tavern, Washington at, 
81 

“ Bucksbones,” patent for, 
quoted, 17 

Buffalo, routes of the, 67, 73; 

see McCullough’s Path 
Bullitt, Thomas, promoter of the 
Mississippi Company, 10, 153 
Bullskin Creek, Va., Washing¬ 
ton’s land on, 11 
Bullstown, W. Va., mentioned, 
62, 91, 124, 162; see Little 
Kanawha-Monongahela por¬ 
tage 

Burning Spring, W. Va., Wash¬ 
ington’s land at, 12 
Bushnell, inventor, aided by 
Washington, 123, 129 
Butler, Richard, mentioned, 141 
Butler, Col. William, visits 
Washington, 46, 143 
Butterfield, C. W., The Wash- 
ington-Crawford Letters, cited, 
23, 109, 136, 144, 147, 154, 157, 
168 

C 

Cacapehen Creek, Washington 
mentions, 87 

Cacapehen Mountains, Washing¬ 
ton mentions, 81 
Canals: Chesapeake and Ohio, 
Washington father of, 14; 
earliest planned American 
(Union), 178; Erie, Washing¬ 
ton first predicts success of 


route of, 17, 178; mentioned, 
19 

Cannon, Col. John, entertains 
Washington, 49; accompanies 
Washington to Miller’s Creek 
lands, 55; agrees to assist 
Washington in proving title, 
56; laid out Cannonsburg, Pa., 
I5L 155 

Cannonsburg, Pa., 151; see 
Cannon 

Carlisle, Pa., home of Lawyer 
Smith, 156, 157 

Carpenter’s Creek, Washington 
mentions, 76 

Cassons, Col.; see Cannon 
“Castle Hill,” on McCullough’s 
Path, 169 

Castleman’s Ferry, Washington 
crosses, 108, 114 
Catfish Path, mentioned, 117, 

123 

Centenary of Louisville , The; 
see Durrett 

Charlestown, W. Va., Charles 
Washington’s country seat 
near, 108; Washington at, 114 
Chartier’s Creek, Washington's 
lands on, 48-9, 150 
Chase, Samuel, mentioned, 170 
Chastellux, Chevalier de, Wash¬ 
ington writes, 7, 8, 13 
Chattin’s Run, Va., Washing¬ 
ton’s land on, 11 
Cheat Mountain, Washington 
on, 167 

Chippewas, 141 
Chissel’s Mine, Washington 
mentions, 32 

Clark, George Rogers, men¬ 
tioned, 141, 195 

Clarke’s Town; see Clarksburg 
Clarksburg, W. Va., 63, 64, 161, 
162 

Coastwise trade, the main de¬ 
pendence of the Colonies, 18 
Colchester, Va., Washington at, 
85 , 174 

Cook, Col. Edward, Washing¬ 
ton refers to, 49, 151 


204 


INDEX 


Cookstown, Pa., 151 
Craik, Dr. James, invited by 
Washington to make western 
tour, 21; mentioned, 27, 28, 31, 
37 , 39 , 48, 58, 79 , 104, 107, 108, 
no, 113, 114, 131, 150, 156, 174 
Craik, William, joins Washing¬ 
ton’s party, 37, 125, 131 
Crainsville, Md., Washington 
passes near, 169 

Crawford, Col. William, Wash¬ 
ington’s land agent, 10; Wash¬ 
ington searches for records of, 
49; cabin on Washington’s 
land built by, 28-9, 52-3; de¬ 
feat of, 133; mentioned, 61, 
140, 142, 144 - 9 , 150 , 157 , 158 
“ Crazy Rumsey ” ; see Rumsey 
Creigh, Alfred, LL.D., History 
of Washington County , cited, 
15 3 

Cresap, Col. Thomas, entertains 
Washington, 38, 132; names 
Skipton, 132 

Croghan, George, land claims of, 
mentioned, 146, 147, 149 
Crumrine, Hon. Boyd, author 
acknowledges debt to, 23; 
copies of Washington-Smith 
Correspondence loaned to au¬ 
thor by, 148 

Culpeper Court House, Wash¬ 
ington at, 84, 174 
Cumberland, Md., Washington 
passes through, 39, 127; men¬ 
tioned, 131, 1 33, 135, 159 
Custis, John Parke, witnesses 
Posey bond, 145 

Custis, Martha Parke, witnesses 
Posey bond, 145 

D 

Daugherty’s Tavern, Washing¬ 
ton at, 41, 128, 134 
Deboir’s Ferry; see Devore’s 
Deer Park, Md., glades near, 120 
Delawares, 141 

Detroit, cattle-drivers murdered 
en route to, 44; Washington 


describes water route from Al¬ 
exandria to, 92-4; Richmond 
to, 94; Philadelphia to, 95-6; 
Albany to, 96; taken by Wash¬ 
ington as commercial centre 
of the new West, 177 
Devore’s Ferry, Washington 
crosses, 49, 55, 150 
“The Diadem,” patent for, 
quoted, 171 

Difficult Run, Washington’s 
land on, 12, 107, 113 
Difficulty Bridge, Va., Wash¬ 
ington at, 28 

Dinwiddie, Governor, offers 
bounty lands, 10; mentioned, 
146 

Duane, James, plan of future 
States described by Washing¬ 
ton to, 14; Adams on, 14-15 
Dunbar’s Camp, mentioned, 138, 
140, 160 

Dunbar’s Spring, 133 
Dunkards Bottom, mentioned, 
58, 63, 64, 65, 66, 68, 71, 91, 
93, 94, 124, 156, 162, 167-9; 
see Portages: Cheat-Potomac 
Dunkers Bottom; see Dun- 
kard’s Bottom 
Dunlap’s Creek, 82 
Dunmore, Lord, signs Washing¬ 
ton’s patents, 11 

Durrett, R. T., on prairie for¬ 
mation, 121; The Centenary 
of Louisville, cited, quoted, 
121 

E 

Elk Run Church, Va., men¬ 
tioned, 174 
Erie, Pa., 178 

Erie Canal (see Canal) and 
New York Central Ry., Wash¬ 
ington prophesies importance 
of route of, 17 

Erving’s Grant, Mass., Everett 
mentions, 112 

Evan’s, Lewis, Map, cited, 96, 

117, 123, 176 

Everett, Edward, Orations and 


205 


INDEX 


Speeches, quoted on inter¬ 
course between East and West, 
6; on inter-State rivalries, 112- 
13, 118 

Expansionist, Washington our 
first, 4 


Fairfax, Lord Chas., Washing¬ 
ton agent for, 115 
Falls Church, Va., 28, 113 
Fancy grass, Washington men¬ 
tions, 70 

Farmington, Pa., Great Mea¬ 
dows near, 134, 137 
Farquier County, Va., Wash¬ 
ington’s land in, 11 
Fayette City, Pa., 151 
Ferries, Washington mentions, 
49, 55, 108, 114, 150, 155 
Fifteen Mile Creek, Va., Wash¬ 
ington on, 37; mentioned, 38, 

125, 131 

Filson, John, route from Vir¬ 
ginia to Kentucky, 123 
Fitch, John, and James Rum- 
sey compared, 128 
Fitzgerald, John, director of Po¬ 
tomac Company, 187 
Forbes, General John, Washing¬ 
ton with, 9; mentioned, 106 
Forts: Augusta, 95 ; Chisel, 123; 
Cumberland, 30, 39, 40, 42, 7 1, 
93 , 94 , 133 , 159 ; Duquesne, 
Forbes captures, 9, 112: see 
Pitt; Erie, 96; McIntosh, 
Treaty of, 141, 189; Necessity, 
Washington capitulates, 9, 112, 
145, 159; Niagara, 97; Pendle¬ 
ton, 116, 130, 161, 162, 169, 173; 
Pitt, 46, 66, 92, 93 , 96, 143 , 178, 
183, 189; Pleasant, 78, 79; 
Stanwix, 182; Wayne, 188 
Franklin, Benjamin, warns 
American promoters against 
river canalization, 19; re¬ 
fused to help Fitch, 19, 128, 
129. Life of; see Parton 
Frederick, Md., 126 


Frederick County, Va., Wash¬ 
ington’s land in, 12 

Freeman, Maj. Thomas, selected 
as Washington’s western 
agent, 48; receives instruc¬ 
tions, 56; mentioned, 150, 154, 
164 

French Creek, navigation of, 87, 
88, 95 

Friend, Charles, mentioned, 69, 
70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 169, 171, 172, 
173 

Friend, George B. McClellan, 
172 

G 

Gallatin, Albert, sketch of life of, 
162; purchases western land, 
163; meeting with Washing¬ 
ton, Bartlett’s version, 163-4; 
Adams version, 164-6; origi¬ 
nal of internal improvement 
ideas, 166; The Life of, cited, 
166 

George’s Creek, mentioned, 40, 
60, 163; Gallatin bought land 
on, 166 

Gilbert’s Tavern, Washington at, 
81 

Gilpin, George, director of Po¬ 
tomac Company, 187 

Ginger Hill, Pa., 150 

Ginseng traders met by Wash¬ 
ington, 42 

Gist, Christopher, mentioned, 
129, 135, 140 

Gist, Thomas, entertains Wash¬ 
ington, 42 

Gist homestead, 133; see “Mount 
Braddock ” 

Glades, Capt. Stroad on, 30; 
Washington describes, 69-70, 
114-16; Great, of Youghio- 
gheny, 63, 68, 120-22, 130, 

168-9, 197 ; Ryan’s, 72-3, 173; 
of Sandy Creek, 30, 63-5, 67-8, 
120, 161-2, 167; Murley’s, 170 

Glen, John, squatter on Wash¬ 
ington’s land, 52, 55, 152 

Glenwood, Pa., 143 


206 


INDEX 


Great Crossings, Pa., Washing¬ 
ton at, 41, 159 
Great Falls, 187 

Great Meadows, Washington’s 
land in, 12, 130; Washington 
at, 41-2; historic associations 
of, 129-31; fertility of, 130; 
plat of Washington’s land in, 
137; mentioned, 134-6, 138, 
140, 158-9 

Green Spring (B. & O. Ry. 
station), 132 

Gwins, Mr., Washington at, 39, 
40 , 133 

Gwins Tavern, 127 
H 

Hadden, James, mentioned, 23 
Hamilton’s, David, Tavern, 
Washington at, 49, 150 
Hampshire County, Va., Wash¬ 
ington’s land in, 12 
Hanaway, Capt., Washington at 
surveying office of, 60, 62, 74, 
161 

“ Happy Retreat,” Washington 
at Charles Washington’s coun¬ 
try seat, 28; mentioned, 108, 
114-15, 156 

Hardin, Capt. Benjamin, advises 
Washington as to western 
communications, 57; men¬ 
tioned, 156 

Harmar, Gen., mentioned, 191 
Harper’s Ferry, mentioned, 187 
Harris, Thompson Mason, Jour¬ 
nal of a Tour, cited, 196 
Harrison, Gov. Benjamin, Wash¬ 
ington writes, 4, 175, 186 
Harrisonburg, Va., 174. 
Hayward, George Robins, 171 
Hayward, Thomas, 171 
Headrick’s Tavern, 37 
Henderson, Richard, land claim 
of, mentioned, 13 
Henning, Statutes at Large, 
cited, 186 

Henry, Patrick, buys western 
lands, 170 


Hillas; see Hillast 
Hillast, Matthew, squatter on 
Washington’s land, 51, 55, 152 
Hillast, William, squatter on 
Washington’s land, 52, 55, 152 
“ Hinches Discovery,” patent of, 
quoted, 171 

Historic Highways of America; 
see Hulbert 

History of Washington County, 
Pa.; see Creigh 

History of West Virginia; see 
Lewis 

History of the Western Canals 
in the State of New York; see 
Watson 

Hites, Col. Abraham, entertains 
Washington, 78, 79, 80, 81, 173 
Horse Shoe Bottom, W. Va., 64, 
162 

Howard’s Creek, 76 
Hulbert, A. B., Historic High¬ 
ways of America, cited, 19, 
115, 121, 127-8, 133, 167, 178 
Humphreys, David, Washington 
to, 190 

Humrich, C. B., collector of 
Washington-Smith Correspon¬ 
dence, 157 

Hutchins, Thomas, Topographi¬ 
cal Description, 91, 176, 178, 
188 

I 

Ice, Andrew, Washington at 
ferry of, 67, 168 
Indians, Washington deterred 
from going to Great Kanawha 
by reports of murders com¬ 
mitted by, 44 


J 

Jefferson, Thomas, not the au¬ 
thor of our public domain 
idea, 14; mentioned, 170, 196-8 
Jockey Hollow, mentioned, 161 
Johns Hopkins University Stud¬ 
ies, cited, 15, 123 


207 


INDEX 


Johnson, Dr. Ezekiel, Washing¬ 
ton visits, 49, 151 
Johnson, J. Stoddard, First Ex¬ 
ploration of Kentucky, cited, 
152 

Johnson, John, 159 
Johnson, Matthew, squatter on 
Washington’s land, 53, 55, 152 
Johnson, Gov. Thomas, aids 
Washington in Potomac River 
improvement campaign, 20; 
owns land in West, 69; men¬ 
tioned, 169, 170, 187 
Johnson, Sir William, men¬ 
tioned, 146 

Johnson Brothers, Rumsey’s 
steamboat-engine built by, 126 
Jones’s, Gabriel, Washington 
at, 81 

Journal of a Tour; see Harris 
Journal of 1770; see Washington 
Journals of Congress, cited, 15 
Jumonville’s Grave, mentioned, 
106, 112, 130, 136, 140 

K 

Kentucky; see Shaler 
Keys Ferry, Washington at, 28, 
82, 86 

Kingwood, W. Va., mentioned, 
116 

Knox, Major-General, men¬ 
tioned, 189, 191 

L 

Lafayette, Marquis, visits 
Washington, 105, in 
Land, trees indicate quality of, 
37 , 125 

Lapsley, Thomas, squatter on 
Washington’s land, 28, 30, 52, 

54 

Laurel Hill, mentioned, 43, 47, 
63, 64, 65, 67, 71, 73, 90, 104, 
112, 138, 185 

Lawrence, Hon. William Beach, 
mentioned, 163 

Lebeauf (Watertown, Pa.), 95 


Lee, Arthur, at Treaty of Fort 
McIntosh, 141 
Lee, Francis L., member of 
Mississippi Company, 10 
Lee, Richard H., member of 
Mississippi Company, 10; men¬ 
tioned, 170, 187, 190 
Lee, Thomas Sim, director of 
Potomac Company, 187 
Leesburg, Washington at, 28, 

11 3 

Lemon, Washington’s guide, 67, 
68, 169 

Lewis, Thomas, surveyor, 59; 
mentioned, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 
84, 86, 145, 159, 174 
Lewis, V. A., History of West 
Virginia, cited, 113, 119 
Lexington, Ky., route from 
Virginia to, 123 

Life of Benjamin Franklin; see 
Parton 

Little Crossings, Pa., Washing¬ 
ton at, 40; mentioned, 134,159 
Little Meadows, Washington at, 
40, 133 

Little Orchard, Md., 131 
Logston, Joseph, 63, 65, 72, 73, 
75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 173 
Logston, Thomas, 72, 173 
Loudoun County, Va., Wash¬ 
ington’s land in, 11 
Louis XIV, quoted, 139 
Lower, William, farm of, 173 
Lucket, Captain, commander at 
Fort Pitt, visits Washington, 
46 , 143 

Luzurene, Chevalier de la, Wash¬ 
ington to, 103; invites Wash¬ 
ington to visit France, 109 


M 

Mackees Creek, Washington 
mentions, 95 

Main Creek, Washington 
mentions, 78 

Main Mountain, Washington 
mentions, 78 


INDEX 


Martinsburg, Va., Washington 
mentions, 30, 119 
Mason, Alexander C., mentioned, 

23 

Mason and Dixon’s Line, men¬ 
tioned, hi, 117, 133, 140 
Massachusett’s early commercial 
rivalry with New York, Ever¬ 
ett, on, 118 

McBride, James, squatter on 
Washington’s land, 26,50,54-5, 
152 

McBride, Samuel, squatter on 
Washington’s land, 50, 152 
McCraker, Mr., authorized to 
offer Washington’s land for 
sale, 37 

McCulloch; see McCullough 
McCullough’s Crossing, men¬ 
tioned, 73 , 75 

McCullough’s Landing, 168 
McCullough’s Path, mentioned, 
35, 63, 67, 68, 72, 74, 124, 130, 
161, 168-9, 17I1 173 
McGeechen, Brice, squatter on 
Washington’s land, 51, 55, 152 
McGeechen, Duncan, squatter on 
Washington’s land, 51, 55, 

152 

McGibbon, W. H., mentioned, 

23 

McKean, Judge Thomas, Wash¬ 
ington’s ejectment suit tried 
before, 157 

McMaster, Professor J. B., 
quoted, 196, 198 

Mercer, Washington’s land pur¬ 
chased from Col., 12 
Miami Village, Washington 
mentions, 188, 189, 191 
“ Milk and Honey ” patent for, 
quoted, 171 

Mill, Washington visits his, 45; 
no bid for, 46; illustration of, 
frontispiece 

Miller’s Run, squatters on Wash¬ 
ington’s land on, 46; Wash¬ 
ington visits lands and tenants 
on, 48-55; how Washington 
obtained, 143-9, 151-4 
14 


Mississippi Company, Washing¬ 
ton organizes, 9 

Misspelling of names, reasons 
for, in pioneer times, 127; in¬ 
stances of, 127-8, 133-4 
Monongahela Court House; see 
Morgantown 

Montreal, Washington describes 
water route Detroit to, 89, 91, 
96 , 97 , 98 

Moore, Charles, The Northwest 
under Three Flags, cited, 178 
Morgan, General Daniel, advises 
Washington as to western 
communications, 28, 29, 109, 
115-16, 155, 161 
Morgan, Col. Zach., Washing¬ 
ton interviews, 62, 74 
Morgantown, W. Va., 58, 62, 66, 
67, 74, 161-2 

Morris, Gouverneur, conceives 
the Erie Canal project, 21 
“ Mount Braddock,” 140, 160 
Mount Chateau, 162 
Mount Vernon, mentioned, 4, 9, 
11, 21, 108, hi, 174-5, 193 
“ Mount Washington,” Pa., 137; 

see Great Meadows 
Mountaineers delighted at hear¬ 
ing Washington’s Diary read, 

24 

Mountain Lake park, glades 
near, 116, 120, 122, 171 
“Mountain Tavern” (Mounts), 
Washington at, 41, 134 
Muddy Creek, mentioned, 171 
Murley’s Glade, 170 


N 

National Intelligencer, cited, 176 
Neville, Col. Jos., accompanies 
Washington, 55, 79, 81, 155 
New American Cyclopedia, 
cited, 128 

New Bruceton, W. Va., men¬ 
tioned, 167, 168, 169 
Newburg, N. Y., Washington at, 
7, 21 


209 


INDEX 


New Chapter in the Early Life 
of Washington, A; see Pickell 
New Creek, mentioned, 78 
New Haven, Pa., Col. Wm. 

Crawford’s plantation at, 142 
New Town, mentioned, 23 
New York, Washington prophe¬ 
sies commercial awakening of, 
178 

Niagara, Washington mentions, 
101 

Norman’s Ford, Washington 
at, 84 

Northwest under Three Flags , 
The; see Moore 

O 

Oakland, glades near, 120; men¬ 
tioned, 169, 171, 172 
Old Town, Md., Washington at, 
38-40, 126, 131-2 
Opecken Creek, 30, 87, 113, 119 
Oswegatche, 98 
Oswego, N. Y., 97, 101 
Ottawas, 141 

P 

Palatines, imported by Gov. 
Johnson, 69 

Parkersburg, W. Va., mentioned, 

122, 161 

Parkinson’s Ferry, 150; see 
Devore’s 

Parton, James, on Franklin’s 
treatment of Fitch, 128; Life 
of Benjamin Franklin, quoted, 
128, 134 

Patterson’s Creek, Va., 36, 78, 

123, 173 

Pennsylvania, Washington on 
early lethargy of, in opening 
western navigation, 103-5; le¬ 
gislates against B. & O. Ry., 
119; how Washington secured 
his lands in, 144-59 
Perryopolis, Pa., Washington’s 
land near, 103, 109, 133, 140, 
142 


Phillips, Col. Theophilus, enter¬ 
tains Washington, 58, 59, 60, 
.156, 159 

Pickell, John, A New Chapter in 
the Early Life of Washington, 
cited, 187 

Pierpoint, Francis H., mentioned, 
161 

Pierpoint’s, John, Washington 
at, 61; Washington meets Gen. 
Morgan at, 62, 161-2; accounts 
of Washington’s meeting Gal¬ 
latin at, 162-7 
“Pitt Country,” 119 
Point Marion, Pa., Washington 
at, 141, 156, 160 
Point Pleasant, W. Va., 123 
Port Pleasant, W. Va., 173 
Portages: Beaver-Cuyahoga: see 
Cuyahoga; Cuyahoga-Beaver, 
92, 191; Cuyahoga-Muskin- 

gum, 93; Cheat-Potomac, 71, 
73, 93, 94: see Monongahela; 
Great Kanawha, around falls, 
94: see James; James-Great 
Kanawha, 76-7, 82-3, 94, 95; 
Lake Erie-French Creek, 95; 
Little Kanawha-Ten Mile 
Creek, 43; Little Kanawha- 
Monongahela, 11, 57, 62, 91, 
116, 126: see Monongahela; 
Mohawk-Wood Creek, 97; 
around Little Falls, 97; to 
Hudson, 97; to Lake Oneida, 
193; Monongahela-Little Kan¬ 
awha, 93; Monongahela-Poto- 
mac, 175; Muskingum-Cuya- 
hoga: see Cuyahoga; Niagara 
Falls (around), 97; Potomac- 
Cheat, no; Potomac-Little 
Youghiogheny, 92-3; Schuyl- 
kill-Susquehanna, 95; Sus- 
quehanna-Toby’s Creek, 95—6; 
Youghiogheny-Potomac, 70-5; 
Youghiogheny, around Falls 
of, 92 

Posey, Amelia, witnesses Posey 
bond, 145 

Posey, Capt. John, Washington 
purchased land of, 59, 145, 147 


210 


INDEX 


Potomac Company, formation 
of, 192; influence of, 192-3 
Pownall, Thomas, Topographi¬ 
cal Description of North 
America, cited 178 
Prairies, formation of, 120-2 
Pres’que Isle, mentioned, 88, 95 
Princeton, N. J., Washington 
at, 7 . 

“ Promised Land,” patent for, 
quoted, 170 

Public Lands, Washington the 
father of our, 15 

Q 

Quebec, Washington describes 
water route from Detroit to, 
98 

R 

Railways: Baltimore and Ohio, 
Washington the father of, 14; 
aborigines found route of, 
18; rivals Pennsylvania Rail¬ 
way in Pennsylvania, 113; 
mentioned, 119, 132, 171; Bos¬ 
ton and Albany, Everett’s ad¬ 
dress on, 112; Chesapeake and 
Ohio, aborigines found route 
of, 18; Pennsylvania, aborigi¬ 
nes found route of, 18; men¬ 
tioned, 119 

Reading, Pa., mentioned, 178 
Red Stone Old Fort, 31; see 
Brownsville, Pa. 

Reed, David, squatter on Wash¬ 
ington’s land, si, 52, 55, 153 
Reed, John, squatter on Wash¬ 
ington’s land, 52, S3, 55, 152 
Reminiscence, Washington never 
indulges in, 135 

Revolution, last phases of, in the 
West, 139 

Richie, Capt. Craig, accompanies 
Washington, 55; agrees to as¬ 
sist Washington prove title to 
Pennsylvania land, 56; men¬ 
tioned, 155 

Richmond, Va., Washington de¬ 


scribes water route from De¬ 
troit to, 94; mentioned, 95, 166 
Rivalry, inter-colonial and inter¬ 
state, 110-13 

Rivers: Alleghany, 166, 178, 193; 
Beaver, 88, 92, 182, 189; Ca¬ 
tawba, 123; Cheat, 24, 30, 35, 
43 , 47 , 57 , 58, 59 , 60, 61, 63, 64, 
65, 82, 90, 91, 93, 94, 104, 116, 
117, 119, 122, 124, 130, 131, 140, 
141, 156, 160, 161, 162, 167, 
183; Cole, 12; Conemaugh, 18; 
Cuyahoga, 88, 92, 93, 182, 189, 
193; Greenbriar, 90, 94, 123; 
Hockhocking, 88; Holstein, 31, 
123; Jackson, 80, 123; James, 
18, 76, 82, 94, 95, 123, 124, 166, 

173, 181, 182, 184, 188, 198; 
Juniata, 18; Kanawha, Great, 

11, 12, 18, 46, 76, 77, 82, 85, 90, 

91, 94, 109, 123, 141, 164, 184, 
189, 198; Kanawha, Little, 12, 
31, 61, 62, 90, 91, 93, 94, 122, 
124, 130, 131, 133, 140, 156, 
161, 162, 166; Kentucky, 153; 
Maumee, 88, 188; Miami, 

Great, 88, 188; Miami, Little, 
12; Mohawk, Washington ex¬ 
plores, 7; mentioned, 12, 21, 
97; Monongahela, 30, 31, 35, 
36, 38, 39, 47, 49, 55, 60, 63, 64, 
90, 91, 94, 104, 116, 122, 124, 
130, 141, 143, 150, 156, 160, 166, 

174, 183; Muskingum, 88, 93, 

124; New, 31, 32, 76, 82-3, 123, 
173; Ohio, 12, 20, 21, 31, 77, 
85, 87, 88, 90, 91, 92, 95 , 96, 98, 
102, 109, 112, 116, 117, 119, 

120, 122, 123, 124, 127, 132, 

133, 141, 166, 170, 181, 183, 

184, 187, 188, 190, 196; Onon¬ 
daga, 97; Outawais: see Ot¬ 
tawa ; Ottawa, 98; Potomac, 8, 

12, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 29, 30,36, 

41, 47, 63-4, 70 -i, 91, 93 , 94 , 
104, hi, 112, 115, 116, 117, 119, 
120, 122, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 
130, 132, 133, 141, 156, 161, 162, 
166, 169, 173, 174, 181, 182, 

184, 187-8, 193, 197 - 8 ; Read- 


211 


INDEX 


ing, 95; Roanoke, 82, 83, 123; 
Sandusky, 88; Savage, 40, 75-6; 
Schenectady, 97; Schuylkill, 95, 
178, 183; Scioto, 88, 182; 

Shenandoah, 80, 86-7, 114, 123; 
St. Joseph, 188; St. Lawrence, 
89, 177; St. Ottawa, 89; Stony, 
73, 77 y Susquehanna, 18, 166, 
178, 183, 193; Tennessee, 18; 
Thames, 129; Tygart Valley, 
63-4; Utawas: see Ottawa; 
Youghiogheny, 8, 30, 35, 36, 
40-1, 58, 67, 70, 71, 82, 90, 92, 
104, 109, 116, 117, 119, 130, 134, 
140, 141, 142, 156, 159 , 161, 
171, 172, 183 

Roads: Alleghany Mountain, 
Washington describes, 40; Al¬ 
exandria, Va., to Cleveland, 
O., 118; Braddock’s, instance 
of misspelling of name of, 127; 
with Washington, on 128; 
historic associations of, 130-2; 
place in national development, 
131-2; mentioned, 30, 63, 67, 
70, 124, 133 , 134 , 135 , 136, 137 , 
138, 139, 140, 161, 167; Cheat 
River to Potomac, 71; Cul¬ 
peper, 174; Cumberland Na¬ 
tional, Washington the father 
of, 14, 123; Deerfield (Mass.) 
to Templeton, 112; Forbes’s, 
mentioned, 167; Georgetown 
to Leesburg, 107; Little Kana¬ 
wha to Monongahela, 31; Mc- 
Collocks: see McCullough’s 
Path; Moorfield, 171; Na¬ 
tional : see Cumberland; 

“ New,” Washington follows 
the, 167, 168, 169; Turkey 

Foot, 48, 58, 156; Virginia to 
Kentucky, 117; Winchester 
westward, 29 

Rockingham Court House, Va., 
Washington at, 81 

Rome, N. Y., mentioned, 182 

Rough Creek, Washington’s 
lands on, 12 

Round Bottom (Ohio River), 
Washington’s land on, 12 


Rumsey, James, entertains Wash¬ 
ington at Bath, 8; exhibits 
model boat, 32-3; engages to 
build houses, 119-20; sketch 
of life of, 125-30; invents 
steamboat, 127-8; obtains ex¬ 
clusive rights on Virginia and 
Pennsylvania waters, 128-9 > 
serves Potomac Company, 128- 
129; dies in England, 129 

Rumsey, James, Jr., awarded 
medal by Congress, 129 

Rumsey Society, formation of, 
129 

Rush, Jacob, Washington’s eject¬ 
ment suit tried before Justice, 
157 

Rutherford, Robert, Ohio lands 
of, 62, 161 

S 

Sale, Washington’s and Craw¬ 
ford’s co-partnership, 47 

Sandy Creek, 36, 75, 130, 167; 
see Glades 

“ Saratoga,” General Daniel 
Morgan’s Virginia home, 109, 
US 

Schedule of Washington’s lands, 
11-12 

Schuyler, Gen. Philip, Washing¬ 
ton to, 102, 108 

Scotch-Irish seceders squat on 
Washington’s lands, 147 

Scott, James, squatter on Wash¬ 
ington’s land, 29, 30, 52-5, 152, 
157 

Scott, James, Jr., “ringleader” 
of squatters on Washington’s 
Pennsylvania lands, 152, 157 

Scull’s Map, cited, 96 

Seceders on Washington’s land, 
148, 154 

Seneca Falls, navigation over, 

187 

“ Shades of Death,” described, 
134 

Shaler, N. S., on formation of 
prairies, 121; Kentucky , cited, 
121 


212 


INDEX 


Shenandoah Falls, navigation 
over, 187 

Shepherd’s Tavern, Isreal, 
Washington at, 28, 113-14 
Shepperd, Col. David, Wheeling 
pioneer, 31, 123 
Shurtees Creek; see Chartiers 
Creek 

Simpson, Gilbert, mentioned, 27, 
39, 42, 46, 47 , 48, 55 , 56, 58, 
109, no, 140, 142, 143, 144, 158, 
.159 

Sincell, Edward H., mentioned, 
23 

Sir John’s Run, Rumsey’s steam¬ 
boat experiment in, 126 
Skipton ”; see Old Town 
Smith, Mr. Thomas, as Wash¬ 
ington’s attorney, 56, 58, 60, 
156, 157 , 158 

Smith’s, Widow, Washington 
at, 81 

Smith-Washington Correspon¬ 
dence, 148, 157, 159 
Smithfield, Pa., Washington at, 

„ x 34 

Snearenger, Thos.; see Swear- 
ingin 

Snicker’s Gap, Washington at, 
114 

Snodgrasses on Back Creek, 
Washington at, 32 
Spanish decree prohibiting im¬ 
provement of unnavigable riv¬ 
ers, quoted, 19 

Sparks, Jared, Writings of 

Washington, quoted, 109, no, 
hi, 114, 125, 129, 130, 150, 152, 
178, 186, 189, 190, 191, 195, 196 
Speed maintained by Washing¬ 
ton crossing Alleghanies, 42 
Spurgeon’s, James, Washington 
at, 167 

Squatters, on Washington’s 

Pennsylvania lands visit him, 
46; religious scruples of, 49; 
improvements on Washing¬ 
ton’s land, 50, 53; arguments 
of, 53-4; Washington offers 
terms to, 54; decide to stand 


suit, 54; list of, 54-5; lose their 
case, 157-9; history of land 
held by, 159 

Statutes at Large (Va.) ; see 
Henning 

Staunton, Va., routes to, 123; 
mentioned, 174 

St. Clair, Gen., mentioned, 191 

Steamboat, Rumsey’s invention 
of, 126-9 

Stevens, John Austin, quoted, 
163-4 

Stewart, Andrew, “ Report on 
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in 
1826,” Reports of Committees 
of the House of Representa¬ 
tives, 20 

Stewart, William, squatter on 
Washington’s land, 50, 54, 152 

Stone Mill, 123 

Stony Creek, Washington 
crosses, 77, 173 

Stoverstown, Va., mentioned, 123 

Stroad, Capt., Washington in¬ 
terviews, 30, 31, 35, 119, 122, 
123 

Strother, Jane, wife of Lewis, 
boyhood friend of Washing¬ 
ton’s, 146 

Submarine boat invented by 
Bushnell, Washington inter¬ 
ested in, 129 

Swearingin, Thomas, Washing¬ 
ton mentions, 31 

Swearingin, Capt., accompanies 
Washington, 55; agrees to as¬ 
sist Washington prove title to 
Pennsylvania land, 56; men¬ 
tioned, 87, 122 

Sweet Springs, 31 

Swift Run Gap, Washington in, 
84, 174 

Sycamore, Washington measures 
gigantic, 132 

T 

Ten Mile Creek, W. Va., naviga¬ 
tion of, 38; mentioned, 43, 130, 
131, 132, 133, 140, 156 


INDEX 


Terra Alta, glades near, 122 
“ Thomas and Ann,” patent for, 
quoted, 170 

Thompson’s, Israel, Washington 
at, 28, 114 

Thwaites, R. G., Withers Chroni¬ 
cles of Border Warfare, cited, 
119, 141, 168 

Timber, species and size indicate 
richness of soil, 131-2 
Toby’s Creek, 95, 96, 178, 183 
Tomlinson’s Tavern, Washing¬ 
ton at, 40, 133-4; misspelling 
of name of, 133 

Topographical Description; see 
Hutchins 

Trade, Washington describes 
primitive western, 98-102 
Traders meet Washington in 
Alleghanies, 42 

Trammel, John, mentioned, 113 
Trammell, Sampson, Washing¬ 
ton stops with, 27 
Trickett, Mr., meets Washing¬ 
ton, 28 

Trunk, contents of Washington’s 
equipage, 57 

Tumberson; see Tomlinson 
Tumblestone; see Tomlinson 

W 

Washington, George, H. B. 
Adams’s tribute to, 3 ; promoter 
of expansion, 3; prophesies 
dismally concerning America, 
4; early hope in the West, 5; 
the first commercial American, 
6; antedated the more promi¬ 
nent American promoters, 6; 
tour of the Mohawk, 7; writes 
de Chastellux concerning 
American expansion, 8; ac¬ 
quaintance with the West, 8, 
9; organizes the Mississippi 
Company, 9, 10; begins buy¬ 
ing western lands, 10; ignores 
the Proclamation of 1763, 10; 
receives bounty lands, 10, 11; 
describes western lands to 


John Witherspoon, 11; sched¬ 
ule of lands, 11, 12; land hold¬ 
ings small compared with 
other speculators, 13; believed 
that West would be populated, 
13; policies concerning west¬ 
ern development, 13, 14; Fa¬ 
ther of the Cumberland Road, 
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, 
and Baltimore and Ohio Rail¬ 
way, 14; attitude to western 
statehood problem, Adams on, 
14, 15; knowledge of the lines 
of communications between 
East and West, 16, 17; advo¬ 
cates canalization of rivers, 17, 
18; explores the upper Poto¬ 
mac, 19; plans opening navi¬ 
gation on Potomac, 20; plans 
western trip of 1784, 21; Diary 
of 1784, 22; states purpose of 
journey, 22; Diary interests 
present-day mountaineers, 23; 
co-partnership lands with Gil¬ 
bert Simpson, 27; leaves 
Mount Vernon, 27; travelling 
equipage, 27, 56, 57; accom¬ 
panied by Dr. Craik, 27; dines 
at Sampson Trammell’s, 27, 
28; passes Falls Church, 28; 
at Difficulty Bridge, 28; lodges 
at Shepherd’s Tavern, 28; ar¬ 
rives at Leesburg, 28; lodged 
at Israel Thompson’s, 28; 
transacts business with tenants 
in Berkeley County, 28; break¬ 
fasts at Key’s Ferry, 28; ar¬ 
rives at Col. Charles Wash¬ 
ington’s, 28; meets Col. 
Warner Washington, Mr. 
Wormeley, General Morgan 
and Mr. Trickett, 28; restates 
object of western trip, 29; re¬ 
ceives information from Gen¬ 
eral Morgan, 29; hears of a 
road from Winchester to West¬ 
ern waters, 29; horses suffer, 
29; secures a baggage wagon, 
29; reaches Captain Stroads’s, 
30; learns of the “ Glades,” 30 ; 


214 


INDEX 


learns of a road from Sandy 
Creek Glades, 30; hears of 
Strouds’s route to Kentucky, 
31; hears of path from Wheel¬ 
ing to Brownsville, 31; reaches 
Snodgrasses on Back Creek, 
32; at Bath, 32-6; meets 
James Rumsey, 32; views 
Rumsey’s model of a steam¬ 
boat, 32, 33; town lots in Bath, 
33; engages Rumsey to build 
houses in Bath, 33, 34; houses 
in Bath, description of, 34; 
meets Rev. Mr. Balmain, 34; 
talks with Col. Bruce concern¬ 
ing westward routes, 35, 36; 
learns of McCullough’s path, 
35; requests Bruce to explore 
North Branch route, 36; 
agrees to explore Little Kana¬ 
wha route, 36; hires three pack- 
horses, 36; orders baggage to 
proceed to Headricks, 37; 
joined by William Craik, 37; 
joined by nephew Bushrod 
Washington, 37; reaches 15 
Miles Creek, 37; requests 
Mr. McCraker to offer his 
land for sale, 37; judges lands 
by timber they produce, 37; 
reaches Old Town, 38; com¬ 
pelled to discharge hired 
horses, 38; hires one more 
pack-horse, 38; hears discour¬ 
aging reports of Ten Mile 
Creek, 38; reaches Fort Cum¬ 
berland, 39; proceeds ahead of 
baggage, 39; dines at Gwins, 
39; lodges at Tomlinson’s, 40; 
describes roads in Alleghanies, 
40-2; reaches Little Cross¬ 
ings, 40; describes Youghio- 
gheny River, 41; reaches Great 
Crossings, 41; lodged at 
Daugherty’s, 41; reaches Great 
Meadows, 41; describes Great 
Meadows, 41; dined at Thomas 
Gist’s, 42; reaches Gilbert 
Simpson’s, 42; rates of speed 
maintained crossing the moun¬ 


tains, 42; meets traders in the 
mountains, 42; secures infor¬ 
mation from traders as to 
navigation of western streams, 
43; hears of murders com¬ 
mitted by Indians, 44; visits 
his mill, 45; describes condi¬ 
tion of mill and other prop¬ 
erty, 45; visited by Col. Wil¬ 
liam Butler and Captain 
Lucket, 46; misdemeanors of 
Indians confirmed, 46; visited 
by squatters on the Miller’s 
Creek lands, 46; agrees to go 
to Miller’s Creek lands, 46; 
property offered for sale and 
rent at a public sale, 47; plan¬ 
tation rented for 500 bushels 
of wheat, 47; determines to 
return home the way he came, 
48; gives leases to lands, 48; 
closes accounts with Gilbert 
Simpson, 48; makes Major 
Thomas Freeman his western 
agent, 48; sets out with Dr. 
Craik for Miller’s Creek, 48; 
reaches Devore’s Ferry on the 
Monongahela River, 49; dines 
at Hamilton’s, 49; lodges at 
Colonel Cannon’s, 49; passes 
Colonel Cook’s home, 49; re¬ 
frains from visiting tenants 
Sunday because of their scru¬ 
ples, 49; visits Dr. Johnson’s, 
49; visits Miller’s Creek farms 
and squatters, 50-31 dines at 
David Reed’s, 53; confers with 
squatters’ spokesmen, James 
Scott and Squire Reed as to 
terms, 53-4; offers terms to 
squatters, 54; receives refusal 
of squatters individually, 54; 
returns to Cannon’s with com¬ 
pany, 55; recrosses Devore’s 
Ferry, 55; dines at Wicker- 
man’s Mill, 55; promised help 
in prosecuting suit against 
squatters by Col. Cannon, 
Capt. Richie, etc., 56; issues 
instructions to Major Free- 


INDEX 


man, 56; sets out for Beason 
Town (Uniontown, Pa.), 56; 
reaches Beason Town, 56; in¬ 
tends to engage Thomas 
Smith as attorney, 56; sched¬ 
ule of contents of equipage 
trunk, 57; meets Captain Har¬ 
din at Beason Town, 57; 
receives information concern¬ 
ing Little Kanawha and Cheat 
rivers, 58; determines to re¬ 
turn home by way of Cheat 
River and North Branch of 
Potomac, 58; sends Dr. Craik 
home by Turkey Foot Road, 
58; sets out with nephew and 
Col. Philips for Cheat River, 
58; engages Attorney Smith, 
58; memorandum concerning 
suit, 59; at Col. Phillips’, 59; 
starts for Hanway’s, 60; 
crosses Cheat River, 60; re¬ 
marks its color, 60-1; pro¬ 
ceeds to Pierpoint’s, 61; fails 
to find records sought, 61; 
awaits arrival of Gen. Morgan 
and others, 62; interviews 
these frontiersmen, 62-5; re¬ 
solves to push eastward on 
new road, 65; reaches Ice’s 
Ferry, 65; questions Ice on 
Cheat navigation, 65 - 6; 
crosses Laurel Hill (Cheat 
Mountain), 67; reaches James 
Spurgeon’s, 67; describes Mc¬ 
Cullough’s Path, 67; secures 
guide Lemon, 68; crosses Bri¬ 
ery Mountain, 68; reaches 
Charles Friend’s, 69; describes 
Glades, 69-70; consults Friend 
on routes, 70-2; proceeds to 
Archy’s Spring, Ryan’s Glade, 
Thos. Logston’s, Jos. Logstons, 
North Branch of Potomac, 
72; obtains Logston’s opinion 
of routes, 73-4; compares 
opinions, 74-7; learns more 
of James-Kanawha route from 
Logston, 76-7; crosses Stony 
Creek, 77; crosses Alleghany 


Mountain, 78; reaches Col. 
Hites, 78; consults Hite on 
South Branch navigation, 79; 
sets out for Lewis’s, 79-80, at 
Rubibort’s, 80; at Fishwater’s 
in Brock’s Gap, 80; at Bryan’s, 
Widow Smith’s, Gilbert’s, and 
Jones’s, 81; at Lewis’s, 81-4; 
at Swift Run Gap, Widow 
Yearly’s, Culpeper Court 
House and Ashby’s, 84; at 
Colchester, 85; reaches Mount 
Vernon, 85; disappointment 
and satisfaction of journey, 
85-6; summary of trip, 86- 
105; on navigation of Shen¬ 
andoah, 86; Potomac, 86-7; 
Ohio and tributaries, 87^9; 
Monongahela and tributaries, 
90, 92; schedule of water 

routes from Detroit to Alex¬ 
andria, 92-3; avoiding Penn¬ 
sylvania, 93-4; Detroit to 
Richmond, 94; Detroit to 
Philadelphia, 95-6; Detroit to 
Albany, 96-7; Detroit to Mon¬ 
treal, 97-8; conclusion of study 
of routes, 98-100; estimate of 
future trade of the West, 100- 
102; resigns command of army, 
107; arrives at Mount Vernon, 
107; held the confidence of the 
nation, 107; close-fisted, 108; 
describes personal losses to 
General Schuyler, 108; in dan¬ 
ger of losing western lands, 
108; describes personal losses 
to Chevalier de la Luzerne, 
109; plans western journey. 
109; purpose of western trip, 
no; letter of invitation to Dr. 
Craik, no; as Father of the 
West, 112; at the height of 
his fame, 114; route westward 
in 1770, 114; attitude toward 
inter-colonial and inter-State 
rivalry, 115-19; desired to es¬ 
tablish a Virginian route 
westward, 119; treatment of 
Rumsey compared with Frank- 


INDEX 


lin’s treatment of Fitch, 128-9; 
misspells names, 133; never 
indulges in reminiscences, 135; 
farm in Great Meadows, 136- 
7; examined coal outcrop¬ 
pings in Fayette County, 
Pennsylvania, in 1770, 142; 
ejectment suit against squat¬ 
ters, 143-59; brief mention 
of Col. Cook explained, 151; 
ethics in land investments, 
153-4; legal talent, 157, note; 
interview with young Gallatin, 
two narratives of, 162-7; letter 
to Governor Harrison on Vir¬ 
ginia’s opportunity, 175-86; 
forms Potomac Company, 187; 
to R. H. Lee, 187-9; advo¬ 
cates internal improvements 
for military reasons to Knox, 
189, 191; for immigration rea¬ 
sons to David Humphreys, 
190; to R. H. Lee on internal 
improvements as related to 
Mississippi River navigation 
dispute; 190-1; influence on 
internal improvement legisla¬ 
tion in Pennsylvania, 192-3; 
in New York, 193; generous 
estimate of New Yorkers, 194; 
desired that every route west¬ 
ward should be opened, 194; 
influence on the awakening of 
the West, 195; originator of 
national exploration and sur¬ 
veys, 195; same opinion as to 
separation of Kentucky and 
Virginia, 195-6; foresaw sea- 
rigged vessels descending Ohio 
River, 196; material side of 
character, Adams on, 197; 
personality, need of carefully 
weighed conclusions as to, 
198-9 

Washington, John, father of 
Bushrod, mentioned, 131 


Washington, Col. Warner, meets 
General Washington at Charles 
Washington’s 28; mentioned, 
78, 79, 156 

Washington-Crawford Letters; 
see Butterfield 

Washington Coke and Coal Co., 
operate on land owned for¬ 
merly by Washington, 142 
Washington-Smith Correspon¬ 
dence; see Crumrine and Hum- 
rich 

Withers Chronicles of Border 
Warfare; see Thwaites 
Watson, History of the Western 
Canals in the State of New 
York, 193 

Wayne, Gen., mentioned, 191 
Webster, Daniel, quoted, on the 
West, 6, 13; Works, cited, 139 
Webster’s Switch, 171 
Western Inland Lock Naviga¬ 
tion Co., 193 

Wheeling, W. Va., 123, 133 
White Oak Springs, 134 
Wickerman’s Mill, Washington 
at, 55 

Wilderson, William, mentioned, 
173 

Williamson, Hugh, Washing¬ 
ton to, on Rumsey, 129 
Wills Creek, 40, 75, 93 
Winchester, Va., 115, 116, 123 
Witherspoon, President John, 
Washington writes, 11 
Wood’s, 123 
Woodstock, 123 
Wood Creek, 97 

Works of Daniel Webster, The; 
see Webster 

Wormeley, Mr., visits Washing¬ 
ton, 28 

Y 

Yearly’s, Widow, Washington 
hospitably entertained at, 84 











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